The Ottawa Senators have confirmed one of many greatest offers of deadline day. Ottawa is buying and selling Joshua Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker to the Buffalo Sabres for Dylan Cozens, Dennis Gilbert and a 2026 second-round decide.
In what has shortly turn into one of many shock trades of the deadline, the Sabres are taking a significant gamble in Norris. His expertise is simple, as the previous nineteenth general decide of the 2017 NHL Draft has scored 90 objectives and 156 factors in 236 video games with the Senators. Sadly, his battles with damage have outlined a lot of his profession.
Norris final accomplished a full marketing campaign within the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. The College of Michigan product scored 17 objectives and 35 factors in 56 video games, resulting in a fourth-place end in Calder Trophy voting. He had some maturing to do on the defensive facet of the puck, however his 1.28 hits-per-game confirmed Norris wasn’t afraid to get entangled bodily.
The 2021-22 marketing campaign turned his true breakout season. Norris completed the season with 35 objectives and 55 factors in 66 video games, averaging 18:35 of time on ice. He led the Senators in goal-scoring as a 22-year-old and dealt with himself effectively within the faceoff dot with a 51.1% success price — one thing fairly uncommon for younger facilities.
Ottawa was rightfully impressed by Norris’s sophomore season. Upon the expiration of his entry-level contract, the Senators signed Norris to an eight-year, $63.6M contract, with a 10-team no-trade clause kicking in firstly of the 2026-27 season.
It’s been principally downhill for Norris since signing that contract. As a consequence of a number of shoulder accidents, Norris has been restricted to 49.3% of Ottawa’s regular-season contests since placing pen to paper on his present deal.
Nonetheless, he’s solely missed eight video games for the Senators this season. He’s scored 20 objectives and 13 assists in 53 video games, averaging 18:20 of ice time with a 53.8% faceoff price. Norris has improved his physicality too, registering 133 hits on the yr, main all Senators’ forwards by a big margin. His possession high quality has taken a step again with a 48.8% CorsiFor% at even power, however a lot of that may be defined by means of his 60.0% defensive zone begin proportion.
Ought to he stay wholesome, Norris provides Buffalo a grittier possibility on the second-line heart place with out sacrificing an excessive amount of on offense. The Sabres already ranked eleventh within the league with a 3.18 GF/G, so transferring Cozens for Norris is an acknowledgment from the staff about their discrepancies.
Cozens was in an identical state of affairs to Norris, however it wasn’t due to any damage issues. The Whitehorse, Yukon native broke out in an enormous manner throughout the 2022-23 season, scoring 31 objectives and 68 factors in 81 video games. Believing that he had turn into a long-term heart possibility within the staff’s top-six, Buffalo prolonged Cozens to a seven-year, $49.7M contract later that season.
He hasn’t been value that wage since. In 140 video games with the Sabres since signing the contract, Cozens has registered 29 objectives and 78 factors, averaging 17:13 of ice time in a second-line position. His 47.7% success price within the faceoff dot is nothing to scoff at, and his 51.1% CorsiFor% is on par with Buffalo’s staff common of 51.2% this season.
Sadly, exterior of JJ Peterka, Cozens has arguably turn into the least accountable ahead on the Sabres’ roster on the defensive facet of the puck. His 86.6% on-ice save proportion at even power is the second-worst on the staff, identical to his -13 ranking.
Nonetheless, he’s a bodily participant like Norris and has related level manufacturing regardless of the down yr. Cozens has been way more out there than Norris within the final a number of years, making this a safer commerce for Ottawa. Isolating the deal to Norris and Cozens, the Senators will save $850K between the 2 facilities.
In the meantime, the swap of Bernard-Docker and Gilbert will solely have an effect on the staff’s depth choices on protection. Regardless of being a first-round decide within the 2018 NHL Draft, Bernard-Docker has but to completely escape on the NHL stage. He’ll end his tenure in Ottawa with 5 objectives and 20 factors in 129 contests, averaging 15:06 of ice time and carrying a -4 ranking.
Gilbert has persistently offered delicate worth all through his profession as a depth defenseman for the Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, and Buffalo Sabres. In 107 profession video games, he’s scored three objectives and recorded 19 factors, averaging 12:10 of ice time per sport with a -18 ranking.
