He is getting more time for sure, and apart from one shift his line has done a good job getting the puck deep in the US zone.
However, it has to be said that it is disappointing to not see him even try to assert himself. This is a huge game, and he hasn't once tried to do more than support the play.
He has the skill and body to be a superior player, but he has to reach out and take it. He just flat out hasn't done that in this brief tourney.
Still, the point is, he's a dumb scapegoat.
Where's Cozens been this game? Same draft pedigree, a year earlier, wearing the C...getting absolutely caved in despite getting monster minutes.
Pick a player that's not Byfield and there are only 2-3 other Canadian forwards that aren't just straight getting trucked for the game. Sure, he hasn't scored--he's also at the very least advanced the play. Do we want
more? f*** yeah. But if you're going to treat him like your 13th forward and still get better results than 10 other Fs, you can't just lay into his draft pedigree 'we wanted more from 2nd OA'....
