BUFFALO, N.Y. — Lindy Ruff is trying everything to get Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn going.
The two 23-year-old forwards were supposed to be among the Buffalo Sabres’ top offensive threats this season. Instead, they have combined for one goal in the Sabres’ first 10 games, and that goal was an empty-netter by Quinn. They have just five points between them while getting second-line minutes and power-play time. Cozens has at least been shooting, leading the team with 32 shots on net in all situations. Quinn has just 10 shots on net this season and only six of those have come at five-on-five.
Ruff showed some patience with these two, keeping them together through 10 games and giving them a variety of linemates. Cozens and Quinn started the season with 19-year-old Zach Benson on their line. But he’s been injured, so the two then had rookie Jiri Kulich playing with them. Since then, Ruff has tried Jason Zucker, Peyton Krebs and even Nicolas Aube-Kubel, but the results have been underwhelming regardless of the third player on the line. Cozens and Quinn have played the most minutes with Benson and Kulich this season. According to Money Puck, their on-ice expected goal percentage with Benson has been 41 percent and with Kulich it has been 37 percent.
According to Natural Stat Trick, when Quinn and Cozens are on the ice together at five-on-five, their expected goal share is 39 percent. But Quinn’s expected goal share away from Cozens is 63 percent, while Cozens’ expected goal share away from Quinn is 54 percent. That’s a dramatic change from the last two seasons when both players were better together than they were apart. In the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, Quinn and Cozens had an on-ice expected goal share of 54 percent together, while both players were around 47 percent away from the other.
And so at practice Thursday, Ruff finally broke up Quinn and Cozens while shuffling the Sabres’ middle two lines. He also put Cozens on the wing, where he has thrived during international play but hasn’t played much as a Sabre the last few seasons. Here are Buffalo’s new lines.
“I think sometimes a player gets so consumed with lack of production and then maybe gets locked into your centerman trying to play even better defensively,” Ruff said of switching Cozens to the wing. “Trying to free him up to get him a few more opportunities and you get him with a left-handed centerman that can get him the puck and let him use his speed. We’re trying to get both him and Jack a little bit of a different look and see if it works and get us a little bit more offense and get both of those guys going.”
Switching the lines is one thing, but moving Cozens from center to wing is significant considering the Sabres signed Cozens to a $49.7 million contract under the premise that he was their long-term second-line center. This move could be temporary to get Cozens going. But Ruff is open to the idea of this being the right fit for Cozens, too, especially if it frees him up to focus less on the defensive responsibilities of a center. He doesn’t view it as a gamble because of the way Cozens scored playing wing for Team Canada at the World Championships in 2022.
“Well, if he scores four off the wing, it will be a permanent thing,” Ruff said with a smile. “Even if he scores a couple. You look at when you track back to your own end, that means there will still be times when he’s in the middle. You have two centermen on the same line, so it’s a little bit universal. When you have draws on the right side, there’s a good chance Dylan will take those draws, so he’s in the middle again. There will be a period of time that some of his defensive responsibilities will be on (Ryan) McLeod and some will be on him. It’s a little bit interchangeable.”
Ruff also noted that Cozens and Quinn both being right-handed shots meant not enough pucks were going to Quinn’s side. Now both players are paired with left-handed centers. Quinn noted that both players on his new line are lefties, and he thinks that could open up some opportunities for him as a right-handed shot. Quinn will get a chance to play with Krebs, a hardworking center with playmaking skills, and Zucker, a responsible veteran with some scoring touch.
Cozens, meanwhile, thinks his speed might create more chances on the wing.
“I think that’s one of the most dangerous things about my game,” Cozens said. “I should get more looks with that and I think it offers more shots off the rush, too.”
Cozens should also benefit from having experienced players like Jordan Greenway and McLeod around him. Over the last two seasons, Cozens’ most common linemates have been other younger players. He has played a lot with Quinn, JJ Peterka, Benson and now Kulich. That’s given him the added responsibility of being the leader of the line and created more pressure to be the most defensively responsible player with his group.
“It’s different what I’m playing with now,” Cozens said. “You have (Greenway), he’s going to win tons of battles down low along the wall and get tons of pucks back. (McLeod) can fly up and down the ice and has had that experience in the playoffs as well. I’m excited to play with both of them and see what we can do.”
Cozens also added, “I know I have to be a lot better. I haven’t been nearly as good as I can be or should be, but I’m just trying to take it one day at a time and not dwell too much on what has happened so far.”
While Cozens and Quinn’s individual struggles were the main motivation for making this move, Ruff is also not happy with how many chances the Sabres have been generating at five-on-five. The Sabres are 18th in expected goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five and 19th in scoring chances per 60. Of their 205 five-on-five scoring chances this season, 41 percent of them have come when Tage Thompson is on the ice. And 40 percent of their high-danger chances have come with him on the ice, too.
That’s why it’s imperative for Ruff to try to get more production from Cozens and Quinn. One line can’t do it all.
“I’ve had good conversations with both players,” Ruff said. “Any time you’re in a little bit of struggle, you welcome something that’s a little bit new. In both their cases, it’s an opportunity to get on the board in a different way.”
(Photo of Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn: Bill Wippert / NHLI via Getty Images)
