Dylan Cozens lighting up the Worlds + Jack Quinn critical to the Sabres core

Dylan Cozens lighting up the Worlds + Jack Quinn critical to the Sabres core

Dylan cousins is lighting it up at the world championships and we’ll talk Jack Quinn coming up today here in the locked on Sabers [Music] podcast you’re locked on Sabers your daily podcast on the Buffalo Sabers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day and thanks for making lock on Sabers your first listen every day we are free and available wherever you get your podcast part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day today’s episode brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers will get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks with any winning $5 bet visit fanduel.com lockon to get started a lot to get to today here on the locked on Sabers podcast sneaky Joe debiasi joining you today thanks for coming to us and sticking with the Sabers through the offseason as we are probably in one of the slower periods of the offseason we are but at least for the Sabers given that we are between the playoffs or in the playoffs and then the NHL draft which comes your way in about a month in Las Vegas at the sphere where of course the Sabers did not win the lottery last week they will pick outside the top 10 uh for the second year in a row after not really doing that for a decade but that’s a little bit later on lot to get to today today on the show The World Championships continue and there are sabes making headlines for good and bad reasons or at least interesting reasons so that’s all coming up I’m going to dive into Jack Quinn today as well we did JJ petka on our last show today his partner in crime this is the bill this is the Sabers version of Jordan puyer and Micah Hyde feels like these two could potentially be riding shotgun with each other for a decade or for a very long time they’ve already played together a lot very different season for Jack Quinn than petka in terms of games played in terms of durability but the play itself after diving in on the numbers looking back on some of his goals and some of his Play From the Past season I came away very impressed and optimistic about what the Sabers have in Jack Quinn going forward so we’ll dive in on his role his importance to the uh I don’t want to call it a rebuild anymore but to the you know getting to the playoffs breaking the playoff drought he is very important to that so that’s all coming up on the show follow me on Twitter at sney Joe Sports you can of course uh check out the show on our text line join sub tex.com lockdowns saers to sign up if you want to do that there before we get to any of that though reminder that even though we’re in the slow portion of the offseason trades can happen right now the sabes could make a trade this minute if they wanted to and we we had an example of that the Nashville Predators sent Ryan MCD formerly of the Tampa Bay Lightning Back to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for uh a pick swaps back and forth but a second round pick goes the way of Nashville is the uh the big piece that they get in return after McDon spent the last two seasons in Nashville he now goes to the Tampa Bay Lightning and the lightning are in big trouble when it comes to their salary cap picture if you look at what their situation is they have just over $5 million remaining in salary cap and that is going into the offseason now that they have traded for McDonna McDonna has two seasons left at $6.75 million this trade is a total head scratcher for me by Tampa if you are a saber fan hoping to knock the lightning out at some point in the next year because they’re getting older and their window is starting to close I think this is a good thing because I can’t believe they divested their already very limited cap space more than half of what they had available to them to one older aging defenseman I was very surprised to see that especially when the lightning have other guys that are just kicking in new contracts uh Anthony Celli would be one of those brandan Hegel would be another uh Braden point of course like they’ve just paid guys and Steph stamp Co one of two things is true here with this mcdonut trade the lightning are either resigned to the fact that Stephen Stam Coast is going to walk in free agency and will join a new team for the first time in his career or they plan to sign stamp coast and they are going to trade one of those key pieces I just talked about the only one though that they would move or I I think move is Anthony Celli Celli under contract till 2031 is making $6.25 million a year he is 26 years old he is a center he is a good player he’s kind of reminiscent of that Tyler Johnson role uh middle six centerman he’s very good defensively he’s finished top five in selki voting twice uh and he is if you’re thinking about the Sabers for an idea if you want to help out Tampa and get them out of their cap situation we’ll send over Anthony Celli he would be the absolute perfect third line Center I think behind Dylan cousins and Tage Thompson you would be taking on a very large investment for a player of his magnitude but I think the player fits what the Sabers need maybe he’ll become available someone to worth watch or we’ll talk Stam Co who will hit the unrestricted free agent Market probably more likely today than it would have been yesterday because of this McDona move but the Sabers can make a trade at any point Tampa just did that today stamp Coast by the way highlights a long list of bigname free agents that are going to hit the market in July and the more I look at the list of free agents the more I believe the Sabers are going to be in that game come July so I look forward to talking a lot about free agency in the month of June leading up to July 1st uh Stam Coast will be one of the names that we’ll talk about on this show um but I think the Sabers are going to be active in that Marketplace uh we’ll talk more about those names coming up next month so that’s happening the World Championships is happening overseas right now and in uh in czechia Dylan cousins is Unstoppable right now this guy is scoring in every single game he plays and don’t make no mistake last time at the World Championships cousins played great and he was doing it from the wing this time this time Dylan cousins is doing it from Center he is playing Center this go round six straight games he has a goal he has eight goals eight goals he is one of the MVPs of the tournament eight goals in six games guys he what what do he what he land on as his final number I didn’t look it up because I thought I had it to heart and I don’t cousins had 18 goals and remember he got that little bit of inflation at the end of the year with some meaningless goals 18 goals on the season he goes to the worlds and he currently has eight goals and I believe that is the tournament lead at this point in time I’ve watched a little bit of him he’s shooting the puck really well he is scoring on the power play which also helps but uh saber going to use that like the whole season Dylan cousins scoring on the power play he certainly would have had opportunities he certainly could have helped out getting Tage Thompson open on the other side if he was a reliable goal scorer on the rightwing uh on the power play so not to make an excuse for him in any way but where was this all season where was this all season is it a confidence thing is it a buffalo thing how it’s hard to not think that way right it’s a depressing way to go about it and to resign yourself to that line of you know oh there’s a deflation when you play in Buffalo but it’s tough look around the playoffs is there a you play in Buffalo your numbers are going to be lower Sam Reinhardt right uh Ryan O’Reilly uh Brandon Montour Evan Rodriguez some of those Florida guys are definitely going to be on this list Evander Kane not all these are great examples I know some of them had the same production in Buffalo just not the same success but you just don’t want to think that way and I’m I don’t want to be thinking that way about cousins he should have been playing better this year there’s no excuse he should have been better for the Savers this season and he is it’s a good thing right it’s not a bad thing that he went to the worlds and he is scoring a bunch of goals and one of the best goal scorers at the tournament if not the best goal scorer at the tournament it’s a good thing because you want him to carry that momentum into the summer give himself that that confidence shot going into the summer go back to western Canada or to White uh White Horse and do your thing come back stronger come back with the right mindset and then carry what you’re doing in the worlds into the season next year that’s what you want to have happen but there might have been deeper reasons why he wasn’t producing for for the sabes now he is doing it for Hockey Canada the other thing that’s happened at the worlds is uh on the same day this weekend both Rasmus Dalene and Bo Byam got ejected thrown out of their games and that was just kind of a coincidence I guess but it was kind of funny in both different games Bo Byam deserved the game suspension that he got and the ejection he Jesse pu Arvy who play Finland are battling in front of the net and Byam takes a shot lifts the stick between puar’s legs as hard as you can and gets tossed from the game gets ejected for one or uh suspended for one game also Dalene like minutes later in the other game or maybe an hour later he decides I’m G to run this little lvan dude and elbows him in the head along the board just destroys this guy he gets ejected for the game for elbowing he probably left his feet I think also now that I’m watching the hit back so Dalene got tossed Byrum got tossed that’s not that big a surprise though I saw a lot of sarcastic responses to that like oh now they decide to uh to play that way now they decide to play a little bit meaner bym and delene were never two guys that that was a question about right I mean Dalene we have seen deliver big hits years I mean since like his third year in the league he really started throwing his weight around I mean that hit he had against the Sharks last season is one of is like the biggest hit a saber has thrown in five years so Dalene will throw his weight around that’s not new and Byam I don’t know we didn’t get to see him a lot but he seemed like he was a little bit testy he got a fight didn’t he for the Sabers at the end of the year we didn’t want him to do that because of concussion stuff um but Byrum’s not someone that I’m surprised by with that either so I get it that you know the sabes in general are maybe worthy of that commentary but I don’t think those two individuals are all right World Championships continue um Canada uh lost today I believe to CIA which was uh was a little bit embarrassing they they blew that 61 lead the other day to Austria uh no Canada excuse me they won that game against czechia czechia maybe tied it is that what I’m remembering uh but either way Canada won the game in the preliminary round today USA won six to three over lva uh so you’ve got that ongoing Thursday Begins the quarterfinal so we’ll get into the the winter go home games for the World Championships if you’re following Along on Thursday uh Thursday morning you’ll have the first game 10:20 a.m. for the quarterfinals all right let’s take a break and when we come back let’s get into Jack Quinn his season that he just had and what level of importance is he to this core going forward that’s all ahead here on the locked on Sabers podcast we are brought to you here on the show by policy genius policy genius is the world’s leading online insurance Marketplace saves you time and money so you can provide your family with financial safety net starting today to uh easy compare quotes from America’s Top insurers just a few quick clicks away to find your lowest price your work life insurance policy may not offer enough protection for your your family’s needs policy genius gives you the unbiased advice from a licensed expert support team they have no incentive to recommend one insurer over another so you could trust their guidance check life insurance off your to-do list in no time with policy genius head to policy genius.com lockon NHL or click the link in the description to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save that’s policygenius.com locked on NHL so sney jbw back here on the locked on Sabers podcast when you are done with us be sure to check out lock on sports today if you’re sick of all that shouting in those debate shows in ESPN or Fox sports check out locked on sports today a free 247 streaming channel it’s available on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app all right jack Quinn the next installment of our lock down Sabers exit interview series as we look player by player at what they did last year and what they’re going to be going forward after the offseason is over Jack Quinn you could call it a loss season for Jack Quinn you could he gets injured remember a Achilles injury working out last summer and that was a news drop in the middle of the summer that was just you don’t you don’t get more deflating Sabers news in the middle of a of an offseason than that oh man one of their important young players is going to miss a lot of time with an injury at attendant or on the lower ankle like that that is worthy of wondering will the guy be the same when he comes back Quinn missed time he of course missed the first couple months of the Season he got back on the ice on December 19th and he played for just over a month he played in in 17 games between December 19th and January 27th when he then sustained another injury lower body never really found out I don’t remember if we found exactly out what the injury was doesn’t matter he sustained that injury and that knocked him out for another two Monon stretch of time now then he comes back from that injury and he plays the final three weeks of the season and from there it was a nine game period from March 27th to April 15th so we ended up in two different stints getting 27 games of sample size out of Jack Quinn in his sophomore season after a good rookie year which I thought saw him be a little bit more consistent than JJ petka I thought was a better two-way player than JJ petka and also was a better goal scorer than JJ petka in year one year two petka of course took a big step forward in all of those categories and played all 82 games the only sa to do it Quinn I think showed signs that he was going to take the step that petka took they both would have done it at the same time Quinn in 27 games played ends with nine goals and 10 assists including eight goals at even strength and like that is it’s pretty amazing right 27 games played he has eight even strength goals go look at other Sabers like uh Jordan Greenway who had nine even strength goals All Season only one more uh how about Dylan cousins who had 13 Even strength goals who played all but three games all year and he only had five more than Jack Quinn did Quinn was great and especially great at five on five that’s an 82 game Pace by the way nine goals and 10 assists in 27 games that is an 82 game pace of 2 seven goals and 30 assists a a a doubling of his goal total and the assist total would have come up in a modest way and it would have been a big jump from year one to year two I think the same level of jump that petka took and Quinn as I mentioned I’ve always liked Quinn as a two-way player he’s not amazing but I think he’s good he’s a fairly good uh defensive player the Advan numbers show he was on a minute per minute basis pound per pound rankings pound-for-pound rankings for the Savers because of his games played he was arguably their best forward in the games he played the advanced numbers at least say that in terms of the goal scoring and the goals created expected goals 4 percentage five on five on the season this is where Jack Quinn ranked among all players on the Sabers forward and defenseman expected goals four percentage number one expected goals four total how much the team scores themselves when he’s on the ice number one on the team uh individual expected goals so how many goals he was expected to score per 60 Minutes based on his play second only Tage Thompson was higher so he was by both his 82 game pace and the advaned numbers one of the best Sabers forwards that we saw it just happened in a very limited amount of games I think there’s another step for him the same way I thought this with petka I think there’s another step for him but last year really showed that the line that he played with last year he played a lot with the line that he had played with uh in previous uh he played a lot with uh Dylan cousins and JJ petka and they were very good together they scored the second most goals for a Sabers line last year despite the fact that Quinn played so little Quinn who did he play with though on a minute-by-minute basis last season of course cousins was the guy he played the most with he played the next most with JJ petka also not a surprise the other guys that he mixed in with he did get a little bit of time with Zack Benson he got a little bit of time in with Payton Krebs and Jordan Greenway if you look at his numbers with Dylan cousins and Jack Quinn and JJ PKA and without he was a lot better with cousins and PKA he is a top six forward the results showed you got your best results out of him when he was in the top six I love the shot he always does that little movement that little tow drag or he’ll even walk it back more than a tow drag like he’ll pull it back and then rip it it’s like a boomerang shot when he gets into the middle of the ice especially he’s got a very good finishing ability I think given what we heard about him when he was drafted the profile was this guy’s a goal scorer this guy’s got a shot he is a finisher I see a much better all-around hockey player than I thought we were going to get I thought when they drafted him this was going to be a 30-goal guy the 40 goal guy at his best and that was going to be the thing he did I have seen playmaking from him I have seen as I mentioned the defensive game I have seen his ability to carry the puck uh I think I’ve seen every skill that that I could want from Quinn I still think the money maker is still his shot but I see a lot of skills on display from Jack Quinn good speed good hands decent size he’s not too small especially given you know some of the other Sabers uh rookies and in prospects 6 foot1 185 like it’s not tiny he’s not big either but I’m very impressed by Jack Quinn and I think he has the chops to be one of the best Sabers forwards and maybe one of their Best Wingers uh maybe their best Winger let’s get into that his role in the core and where are we at Contract wise could that even happen this summer we’ll get to that coming back here on the locked on Sabers podcast we are presented 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is the ceiling for Jack Quinn and where are we at Contract wise well let’s start with his ceiling and how high I think he really could go I think like petka I think this is there’s a group of three or four guys that I probably could say this about Quinn would be one of the favorites who is going to be the sabers best Winger when they get good who’s going to be their best forward even when they get good I think Jack Quinn has the ability to be this team’s best forward I don’t think he’s a favorite I think Tage is already above him and that’s a hard bar to reach if he’s going to play like he did two years ago uh cousins if he returns to his form we’ve seen him do it at least once we’ve seen petka now do it for a whole season like Quinn’s the guy we haven’t seen do it for a whole year so he’s going to fall below those other guys but is HE capable I think he’s got the skill to do it best Winger might even be really possible it’s really him and PKA and Benson for me right now um and I think Quinn I think him and PKA are tough man like it’s it’s arguing again I mentioned the poyer hidde uh comparison earlier if you’re Bills fan it’s like debating who’s who’s better mikah Heyde or Jordan puyer just we didn’t even bother with that for six years while they were on the bills because who cares they’re close enough they’re both amazing and that might be what we fall into with Jack Quinn JJ petka who was better Jason pominville or Thomas vanck okay we could actually sit there and debate it and probably figure it out if you want but do we need to they’re both really good they were both really good and I think Quinn and petka might both be on track to be the best two forwards on this team now what’s going to be interesting there is their most common Center through two seasons is Dyan cousins Thompson is this team’s best center right now is there a future where they try to put together their best center Tage Thompson with their two Best Wingers Jack Quinn and JJ petka and by the way that’s no I’m not I’m not also you know just throwing Alex tuck to the wind here tuck right now is their best Winger and it’s possible of course that he is that into their 30 going into his 30s but I think we know what tuck is and that’s very good I am still thinking that Quinn and PKA could be better than what tuck is right now and could really reach like an Allstar level of play tuck is a great player but I don’t think he’ll ever be an All-Star guy um Quinn and P I think could and I would of course group Quinn in that as he’s there’s their best right winger for sure uh in my opinion uh for the future like I think his ceiling is is what that is is what I mean now where does that leave him for his role again I mentioned like maybe there’s a future with him on the Top Line I like the idea of Quinn playing on a shutdown line maybe petka someday maybe they’ll have to split maybe petka because he’s more offensive he’s a little bit more Dynamic fast speed maybe pka’s future is on a scoring line with Thompson and Quinn’s future is playing opposite side of Zack Benson who is also looking like he’s going to be an amazing two-way forward he’s already very good defensively Benson and Quinn can be the Wingers on a shutdown line a a defensive line that also scores a lot of goals controls possession and you know can just drive play that way um I think Quinn and Benson have a future playing together just re just feeling out their Styles I you might be thinking well cousins is the perfect Center for that again I just I got see more from cousins defensively I think he’s overrated right now as defensive player and I got to see more um before I’m willing to put him as the centerman on a shutdown line like that uh maybe an Anthony Celli they trade for Anthony Celli and put him between Jack Quinn and J and Zack Benson uh that’s a shutdown line that can also score goals and I would love that type of line for Jack Quinn um there’s also an argument you just put him on the top line you put him on the second line and let him score as many goals as possible because he’s probably goingon to score a lot of goals so versatile player I think you could do a lot of things with is this the time to sign him to a contract I asked Kevin Adams that last month and he said like we’re not closed to it I asked him about petka and Quinn and he said you know it’s something we’ll brooch we’ll we’ll talk about um and never say never right like he left the door open to it the vibe I get though is that they’re not going to do Quinn this summer maybe they get to petka but Quinn only playing 100 games in his NHL career so far and coming off a 27 Game season maybe one full year under his belt before they want to give him I think he’s the seveny year eight-year contract guy one proven year of play that he just had and I think you assigned him to the long-term extension for really good money and he is going into the final year of his contract but then he’ll be in RFA at age 23 so I think there’s a big ceiling for Jack Quinn I think he is a Topline potential guy that also like the idea of him being on a long-term shutdown line uh someday with Zack Benson all right jack Quinn very excited about his future that’s going to do it for us though today here on the locked on Sabers podcast we’ll do two players on our next show Jeff Skinner and Alex tuck will tackle the veteran forwards at the top of the Sabers lineup on our next show and Jeff Skinner will they buy him out we should get that in now before maybe they make a decision although I still might guess that they don’t but we’ll talk more about that coming up on our next show thanks everybody for tuning in today to the lockdown Sabers podcast making us your first listen every day be sure to check out the national show lockd on sports today Amazon Fire TV or on YouTube streaming 247 we’ll talk to you next time here in the lock on Sabers podcast

Overseas at the World Championships, Dylan Cozens continues to score more than any other player. Where was this Cozens during the Sabres season? Should it change his expectations about next year?

Plus, why Jack Quinn’s season was not a lost season and why he’s a huge piece of the Sabres core going forward.

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