Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, a forward long linked to the Detroit Red Wings via rumor is off the board, as the Buffalo Sabres send Dylan Cozens to Ottawa. The full deal will send Cozens and defenseman Dennis Gilbert and a 2026 second round pick to the Senators in exchange for Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker.
Ottawa/Buffalo deal sounds like:
Norris/Bernard-Docker
for
Cozens/Gilbert and a 2nd in 2026Big one
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 7, 2025
While rumors linked Cozens to Red Wings for some time (probably at their peak in January), it’s no big surprise to see him wind up elsewhere. The logistics of a Cozens trade were bound to be complicated for the Red Wings. When you see the return Buffalo ultimately fetched for him, it’s not a package Detroit was really willing or able to part with.
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To acquire Cozens (and Gilbert and a pick), the Senators parted with two NHL contributors in their mid-20s. It would be hard for Buffalo to justify moving Cozens for a return that couldn’t provide an immediate impact at the NHL level.
Putting that sort of package together didn’t quite make sense for the Red Wings. Here’s what I wrote on the topic back in January:
“To me, it seems clear that making this work for Detroit’s cap sheet would require one of Copp or Compher to go back to Buffalo in return. I’m not sure how cleanly that fits with the Sabres’ potential timeline for contention, nor what else Buffalo would want to send the trade through.
“It seems obvious the Red Wings wouldn’t part with any of Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Simon Edvinsson, or Moritz Seider. From there, things get a bit murkier. Presumably, the Sabres would want a young forward (either a true prospect or one of the youngsters presently on the NHL roster). Would Detroit be willing to part with one or Marco Kasper or Nate Danielson to make this happen? Would any package that includes Copp or Compher really appeal to the Sabres?”
Ultimately, the Sabres went a different route to find a deal that made sense. As of this writing, Detroit hasn’t pursued its own deal for a similar young centerman to Cozens.
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