When the Ottawa Senators made the blockbuster swap at the 2025 Trade Deadline, sending Josh Norris and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker to the Buffalo Sabres, the organization wasn’t just looking for a shakeup. They were looking for a different kind of engine to power their top six. In Dylan Cozens, they brought in a player with the pedigree of a killjoy, but with a resume that had recently been collecting dust in Western New York.
Fast forward to the early stages of the 2025-2026 campaign and the returns are good… but complicated.
Through the first 27 games of the season, Cozens was perhaps the most polarizing skater in the nation’s capital.
A renaissance in the offensive zone
The raw production is undeniable. Cozens has hit the ground running and provided exactly the spark that general manager Steve Staios was hoping for when he pulled the trigger. With nine goals and 17 points in his first 27 games, the “Whitehorse Workhorse” is playing at a 27-goal pace. To put that into perspective, that’s a pretty stark departure the 14-goal pace he was languishing at in Buffalo last season.
This revival is not accidental. Cozens looks physically different this season: faster, sharper and considerably more aggressive. Much of this credit belongs to an offseason regimen that sounds exhausting just to read about. Cozens spent his summer with Senators director of player development Sam Gagner focused on “tireless” training that has noticeably improved his skating stride.
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The result is a player who is once again chasing the puck instead of waiting for it. Cozens talked about regaining his confidence to carry the puck through the neutral zone and attack the middle of the ice. For a Senators team that has at times been guilty of playing too much offside, Cozens’ willingness to take the court was a relief. He wins faceoffs at a 53 percent clip, secures possession and wants to get on the ice right away.
The ‘minus’ problem
However, hockey is a two-way game, and this is where Cozens’ evaluation becomes murky. While his offensive numbers are elite, his defensive stats are alarming.
Through those same 27 games, Cozens has a minus-12 rating. While plus/minus is often dismissed as an archaic statistic by the analytics community, in this specific context it aligns with a troubling trend. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Senators have been outscored 18-11 at five-on-five with Cozens on the ice. Conversely, when Cozens is on the bench, Ottawa has outscored its opponents 47-38.
That’s a big difference that goes beyond bad luck. It suggests a systemic problem in the way his line defends the transition game and controls coverage in their own zone. The eye test confirms the figures: Cozens has been described by several observers as a risk to his own endsoften caught puck-watching or cheating for fouling at the expense of defensive positioning.
Cozens’ sheltered minutes
For the knowledgeable fan, the concern increases as you watch it How Cozens is deployed. Head coach Travis Green didn’t feed Cozens to the wolves. That task has been assigned to Shane Pinto, who is charged with the heavy lifting of shutting down the opponent’s top lines and handling tough defensive zone starts. Cozens, for comparison, has received favorable matchups.
The verdict
Cozens is currently the “X-factor” that will determine the Senators ceiling this season. He has embraced the pressures of the Ottawa market, noting the optimistic atmosphere and his desire to meet the high standards of the fan base. He acknowledges the defensive mistakes and claims to be studying video to adapt to the Senators’ systems.
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Right now, Cozens provides the raw speed and scoring power that the Senators desperately need to move forward. But his five-on-five goal differential is worrying.
If he can improve his defensive awareness, Ottawa has a legitimate star on its hands. If not, they have a high-scoring luxury that may give up as much as it creates.
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