MLive’s Ansar Khan weighs in on the rumors that the Red Wings might be interested in trading for Buffalo Sabres center Dylan Cozens, and Khan offers a somewhat realistic expectation of compensation for the Sabres, should Detroit attempt to fill their second-line center’s spot with Cozens:
Cozens has three years remaining on his contract after this season at a $7.1 million AAV. The Red Wings have enough cap space to fit him in without shedding salary. And with the cap increasing considerably the next three seasons, the Red Wings wouldn’t be hamstrung.
The Sabres likely would want a good, young player or a first-round pick. It’s safe to assume the Red Wings aren’t relinquishing any of their top, young players like Marco Kasper or Simon Edvinsson.
Jonatan Berggren might be expendable because there hasn’t been an opening for him in the top-six to maximize his talent. But Buffalo surely would need more than that.
The Red Wings’ first-round pick looks like it will be middle of the pack or slightly lower. Yzerman traded a 2024 first-rounder (Boston’s, acquired in the Tyler Bertuzzi deal) that ended up being 25th to Ottawa in 2023 for DeBrincat, who was 25 at the time.
Therein lies the rub–the Sabres are going to want at least a top prospect and a first-round pick–somebody like Kasper or Edvinsson, and that’s probably why a trade hasn’t happened as of yet.
Instead…
Perhaps the Red Wings have [a second-line center] in [Marco] Kasper (No. 8 in 2022). He’s flourishing at left wing on the line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. But even coach Todd McLellan revealed recently that club ultimately would like to move Kasper to center, his natural position.
Maybe Kasper could be the second-line center they’ve been seeking for so long.
Continued; at this point, I’d rather not see the Wings make another pitch for Cozens, because the team would have to carve out a hole in the roster and prospect pipeline to acquire a positional hole that the team has already addressed.
