Prospect Info: Dylan Cozens, C/RW, 2019 7th overall, Lethbridge (WHL) --- Signed to ELC

[Tatanka]

Yahoo, we have Girgs replacement.

 

[Gabrielor]

That’s a scary set of tweets.

If the guys who thought Mittelstadt was ready in 2018, and Berglund/Sobotka were placeholder 2nd line centers, think Cozens is good to go, then forgive me for being skeptical.

Perhaps Cozens is ready, but i won’t trust the word of these clowns. I’ll see myself in camp. It’ll be pretty obvious too.

 

[joshjull]

That’s a scary set of tweets.

If the guys who thought Mittelstadt was ready in 2018, and Berglund/Sobotka were placeholder 2nd line centers, think Cozens is good to go, then forgive me for being skeptical.

Perhaps Cozens is ready, but i won’t trust the word of these clowns. I’ll see myself in camp. It’ll be pretty obvious too.

I’ve felt from day one of this season they were going to count on him for next season. Thats whether he was ready of not. I’m just glad Cozens has grown so much in the WHL that he will be able to handle the transition.

As an aside, I’m cracking up at the people asking Lance for his sources. As if he is going to tell them

 

[Fezzy126]

That’s a scary set of tweets.

If the guys who thought Mittelstadt was ready in 2018, and Berglund/Sobotka were placeholder 2nd line centers, think Cozens is good to go, then forgive me for being skeptical.

Perhaps Cozens is ready, but i won’t trust the word of these clowns. I’ll see myself in camp. It’ll be pretty obvious too.

Their inability to self scout and evaluate appropriate levels for their prospects goes back even further - Kassian promoted to the NHL too early, Luke Adam as a #1 C, assuming Grigo would be able to play in the NHL and burning up his ELC, Bringing Girgs up after a good AHL playoff, McCabe, Foligno, Butler, Zadorov - all rushed along after seeing positive development steps.

It's all been done out of desperation to fix flawed rosters.

 

[Chainshot]

Their inability to self scout and evaluate appropriate levels for their prospects goes back even further - Kassian promoted to the NHL too early, Luke Adam as a #1 C, assuming Grigo would be able to play in the NHL and burning up his ELC, Bringing Girgs up after a good AHL playoff, McCabe, Foligno, Butler, Zadorov - all rushed along after seeing positive development steps.

It's all been done out of desperation to fix flawed rosters.

Don’t forget Risto in there either.

Cozens should make the team or not based on the merits of his camp and preseason. But man, that is no reason to again sit on their hands waiting which I fear they will do thinking they are getting him, Tage, Asplund and Mitts next year.

 

[Yultron]

Cozens with 2 goals and 1 assist in a span of 3 minutes as Lethbridge is down 5-4 with 9 minutes to go .

with the 3 points Cozens now has set a new career high with points in junior hockey with 85 ( 38 goals 47 Assists ) and he reached these new career high totals in 16 less games where last year he collected 84 points in 68 games .

Cozens can and will be in the NHL next year the kid is miles ahead of where Middlestadt was at this point in his D+1 season and especially with his size , skating and overall ability .

lots of great news today with Cozens and is moving that much closer to a top 5 pick to replace Cozens in the system next year

 

[joshjull]

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

He has the tools, but I think he's still a project.

 

[The Red Helmet]

I'm close to as confident in Cozens being a star as I am that Mittelstadt was going to be a bust. Conzens imo is going to be the real deal. I wouldn't be surprised if he is a solid contributer on the big club as early as next season.

 

[tsujimoto74]

I'm close to as confident in Cozens being a star as I am that Mittelstadt was going to be a bust. Conzens imo is going to be the real deal. I wouldn't be surprised if he is a solid contributer on the big club as early as next season.

Yeah, I think his performance post-WJC looks like a guy who'll be ready next fall. The comparisons to Mittelstadt are misplaced IMO. Just because they're both recent top 10 picks playing the same position doesn't mean they're alike. Mittelstadt's NHLe number has hovered between 20-30 for 3 straight years. He's barely progressed. Cozens draft year NHLe was over 30, and took a huge step forward this year.

Mitts NHLe progression from D+1 year to present: 24, (25 points in 77 NHL games), 27
Cozens NHLe from draft year to D+1: 31, 41

On top of that, Cozens has a couple physical attributes that make him project better, too. Chiefly, he's got a bigger frame and is a much better skater.

 

[hizzoner]

Mittelstadt stayed in high school hockey rather than work in a stronger league to develop. He was barely noticeable despite all the hype in his one year in college hockey in D plus 1 year. His problem was and is that his skills do not translate to a high level when you factor in his skating, shot, and will to succeed. Cozens has the latter 3 plus decent size.

 

[EichHart]

The 2017 draft was pretty weak. I don't even see many players selected after him that are doing well.

Thomas/Joker/Suzuki

 

[jc17]

The 2017 draft was pretty weak. I don't even see many players selected after him that are doing well.

Thomas/Joker/Suzuki

I wanted to trade down for suzuki or yamamoto. Still kind of wish we had.

 

[jc17]

Since 2000 Cozens is 12th among u19s in WHL scoring, which is cool. Although there's a mix of solid NHLers and not so solid guys, so it doesnt tell us too much. A few guys on this list like Draisaitl and Kane were in their draft years too.

 

[Yultron]

I'm close to as confident in Cozens being a star as I am that Mittelstadt was going to be a bust. Conzens imo is going to be the real deal. I wouldn't be surprised if he is a solid contributer on the big club as early as next season.

Middlestadt won’t be a bust, for an 8th overall pick maybe but he can still have a solid NHL career as a 3rd line centre with the potential to be a #2 down the road.

the problem is he was rushed and should of spent last season in the AHL . And besides some players are slow at developing just look at Jake Virtanen this year and how he has turned a huge corner and Tom Wilson in his age 23 season .

but Cozens is definitely miles ahead of Middlestadt in terms of development and the Sabres need to get this one right and not rush Cozens if he isn’t ready but I have a great sense he is NHL Ready

 

[BananaSquad]

Middlestadt won’t be a bust, for an 8th overall pick maybe but he can still have a solid NHL career as a 3rd line centre with the potential to be a #2 down the road.

the problem is he was rushed and should of spent last season in the AHL . And besides some players are slow at developing just look at Jake Virtanen this year and how he has turned a huge corner and Tom Wilson in his age 23 season .

but Cozens is definitely miles ahead of Middlestadt in terms of development and the Sabres need to get this one right and not rush Cozens if he isn’t ready but I have a great sense he is NHL Ready

It’s also the talent around them as well. Mittelstadt has had shitty linemates. Anyways I see him more as a winger than a center in the nhl.

 

[Asymmetric Solution]

Save us Dylan Cozens, you’re our only hope.

 

[Yultron]

It’s also the talent around them as well. Mittelstadt has had shitty linemates. Anyways I see him more as a winger than a center in the nhl.

yes and that’s on Botterill, if he is back and at this point I actually believe he won’t be , the new GM needs to get aggressive and make this team good , enough with the lottery after this season we need to make the product on the ice legit

so Cozens and Middlestadt can succeed

 

[Dirty Dog]

Not too bad for a low-end skilled player without IQ

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

The 2017 draft was pretty weak. I don't even see many players selected after him that are doing well.

Thomas/Joker/Suzuki

The 2017 draft class wasn't weak. There was no pre-draft clear cut superstars at the top but it was a deep draft, particularly for centers.

Add Necas and Yamamoto too if, like your list suggests, we're looking at players that have already looked better than Casey in over half a season's worth of NHL games.

 

[EichHart]

The 2017 draft class wasn't weak. There was no pre-draft clear cut superstars at the top but it was a deep draft, particularly for centers.

Add Necas and Yamamoto too if, like your list suggests, we're looking at players that have already looked better than Casey in over half a season's worth of NHL games.

It was weak and is weak, the players you mentioned are nothing special at all.

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

It was weak and is weak, the players you mentioned are nothing special at all.

I didn't say they were special. Point is there's more than just the three players you listed (and more than just the two I added) that were drafted after Casey doing well in NHL games.

I'm not trying to attack Casey here but you appear to be excusing him by shrugging off that whole draft as being bad.

 

[Chainshot]

I'm sad those shift videos are no longer available. He's grown, wanted to do some comparisons tonight and they're gone.

 

[joshjull]

The 2017 draft class wasn't weak. There was no pre-draft clear cut superstars at the top but it was a deep draft, particularly for centers.

Add Necas and Yamamoto too if, like your list suggests, we're looking at players that have already looked better than Casey in over half a season's worth of NHL games.

How the Canes handled Necas is exactly what we should have done with Mitts. In the AHL in his D+2 season

 

[Buffaloed]

How the Canes handled Necas is exactly what we should have done with Mitts. In the AHL in his D+2 season

Mitts put up 25 points in his first full NHL season. That's more than Olli Jokinen's and close to Cam Neely's first full NHL seasons. As much as our eyes told us differently, it wasn't unreasonable to keep him in the NHL

Jokinen took an ice age to develop but he did it in the NHL Olli Jokinen (b.1978) Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com
Neely exploded on the score sheet in his 4th season Cam Neely Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

It makes the point that if a player is good and has the drive, he'll develop anywhere.