The Ottawa Senators have confirmed one of many largest 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 choose.
In what has rapidly grow to be one of many shock trades of the deadline, the Sabres are taking a serious gamble in Norris. His expertise is plain, as the previous nineteenth total choose of the 2017 NHL Draft has scored 90 targets 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 targets 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 grew to become his true breakout season. Norris completed the season with 35 targets 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 properly within the faceoff dot with a 51.1% success charge — 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. Resulting from 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 targets and 13 assists in 53 video games, averaging 18:20 of ice time with a 53.8% faceoff charge. Norris has improved his physicality too, registering 133 hits on the yr, main all Senators’ forwards by a major margin. His possession high quality has taken a step again with a 48.8% CorsiFor% at even energy, however a lot of that may be defined by his 60.0% defensive zone begin proportion.
Ought to he stay wholesome, Norris provides Buffalo a grittier choice 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 group about their discrepancies.
Cozens was in an analogous state of affairs to Norris, nevertheless it wasn’t due to any damage considerations. The Whitehorse, Yukon native broke out in a giant approach throughout the 2022-23 season, scoring 31 targets and 68 factors in 81 video games. Believing that he had grow to be a long-term heart choice within the group’s top-six, Buffalo prolonged Cozens to a seven-year, $49.7M contract later that season.
He hasn’t been price that wage since. In 140 video games with the Sabres since signing the contract, Cozens has registered 29 targets and 78 factors, averaging 17:13 of ice time in a second-line position. His 47.7% success charge within the faceoff dot is nothing to scoff at, and his 51.1% CorsiFor% is on par with Buffalo’s group common of 51.2% this season.
Sadly, outdoors of JJ Peterka, Cozens has arguably grow to be the least accountable ahead on the Sabres’ roster on the defensive facet of the puck. His 86.6% on-ice save proportion at even energy is the second-worst on the group, identical to his -13 score.
Nonetheless, he’s a bodily participant like Norris and has related level manufacturing regardless of the down yr. Cozens has been much more accessible 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 group’s depth choices on protection. Regardless of being a first-round choose within the 2018 NHL Draft, Bernard-Docker has but to completely get away on the NHL degree. He’ll end his tenure in Ottawa with 5 targets and 20 factors in 129 contests, averaging 15:06 of ice time and carrying a -4 score.
Gilbert has constantly supplied 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 targets and recorded 19 factors, averaging 12:10 of ice time per sport with a -18 score.
