Dylan Cozens Bio
Dylan Cozens is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Born on February 9, 2001, in Whitehorse, Yukon, he was selected seventh overall in the 2019 NHL entry draft by the Buffalo Sabres. Cozens, known as “The Workhorse from Whitehorse,” made history as the first player from the Yukon to be a first-round NHL draft pick. With a strong junior career, including notable achievements with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Cozens entered the NHL and quickly established himself as a promising center, now contributing to the Ottawa Senators.
Standing 191 centimeters tall and weighing 83 kilograms, Cozens plays a power-forward style built on size, skating, and two-way responsibility. He represented Canada at multiple international tournaments, including the World Juniors and the IIHF World Championship, before being traded to Ottawa in March 2025.
Early Life and Background
Dylan Cozens was born on February 9, 2001, in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, to Mike Cozens and Sue Bogle. He grew up in a region with a small hockey community, which shaped his early development on the ice. When he was three years old, his father built a backyard rink where he first learned to skate and play the game. Because the player pool in Whitehorse was limited, Cozens often skated against older opponents from a young age.
At the age of 12, Cozens broke his leg after being boarded by an adult player in a house league game. The injury convinced his family that he needed to compete against players his own age, and at 14, Cozens moved to British Columbia to attend the Delta Hockey Academy. During the 2015–16 season with Delta, he recorded 19 goals and 31 points in 25 regular-season games, and he led the 2016 John Reid Memorial Bantam Tournament in scoring with nine goals and 15 points in six games, earning Reid Division All-Star honours. He also gained experience with the Prince George Cariboo Cougars of the BC Hockey Major Midget League to continue building strength and skill.
Path to Professional Hockey
Cozens entered the major junior pathway when the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League (WHL) selected him 19th overall in the 2016 WHL bantam draft, making him the first Yukon-born player taken in the first round of that draft. After spending the 2016–17 season with the Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford to satisfy the WHL age minimum, he joined Lethbridge full-time for 2017–18 and won the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s top rookie after posting 22 goals and 53 points in 57 games.
The following season, Cozens produced 34 goals and 84 points in 68 games and was ranked the No. 5 North American skater by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. After a 2019–20 campaign in which he recorded 38 goals and 85 points in 51 games before the COVID-19 pandemic halted play, Cozens finished his WHL career with 95 goals and 223 points in 179 regular-season games. On June 21, 2019, the Buffalo Sabres selected him seventh overall in the NHL entry draft, making him the first Yukon-born player ever taken in the first round of the NHL draft.
Dylan Cozens Career
Early Career (2020–2021)
Cozens signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Buffalo Sabres on July 15, 2019, and joined the NHL roster for the 2020–21 season. He made his league debut on January 14, 2021, against the Washington Capitals, recording his first NHL point with an assist in a 6–4 loss. He scored his first NHL goal eight days later, also against Washington, although the Sabres fell 4–3 in a shootout.
His rookie year was marked by adversity. Cozens spent time in COVID-19 protocols and missed games with two separate upper-body injuries, including a six-game absence after a check from the Philadelphia Flyers’ Philippe Myers on March 29. Despite the setbacks, he finished his rookie season with four goals and 13 points in 41 games and was deployed at both centre and wing.
Buffalo Sabres Breakthrough (2021–2023)
With Jack Eichel sidelined and Sam Reinhart departing, Cozens moved into a top-six centre role for the 2021–22 season. He recorded his first multi-goal NHL game on November 12, 2021, scoring twice in a 3–2 win over the Edmonton Oilers, and finished the season with 13 goals and 38 points in 79 games. Cozens openly focused on improving his defensive play after his offensive production dipped in the second half of the year.
On February 7, 2023, the Sabres signed Cozens to a seven-year contract extension worth 49.7 million dollars, signalling his place as a core piece of the franchise. The deal reflected his emergence as a reliable two-way centre capable of matching up against opposing top lines while contributing offence.
Ottawa Senators Era (2025–Present)
On March 7, 2025, the Sabres traded Dylan Cozens, Dennis Gilbert, and a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL entry draft to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker. Placed on a line with Drake Batherson and David Perron, Cozens made an immediate impact, recording three goals and seven points in his first eight games with Ottawa. He reached the 200-point milestone of his career on March 11, 2025, with a goal in a 5–2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, and finished his time with the Senators in 2024–25 with five goals and 16 points in 21 regular-season games.
Cozens made his postseason debut in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, recording a goal and an assist in six games against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Going into the 2025–26 season, he spent two months working with Sam Gagner, the Senators’ director of player development. Despite producing 10 points in the first 11 games of the season, Cozens struggled defensively with a minus-10 plus-minus rating, an area of focus as the campaign progressed.
Driving Style and Strengths
Cozens plays a power-forward, two-way centre game built on size, a strong skating stride, and a willingness to drive the net. He is comfortable in all three zones, is reliable on face-offs, and is capable of killing penalties while also quarterbacking a top-six role at even strength. His blend of physical play and offensive skill makes him a matchup problem for opposing coaches, and his partnership with development staff in Ottawa is aimed at refining the defensive side of his game.
Notable Events and Milestones
Cozens became the first Yukon-born player taken in the first round of both the WHL draft and the NHL draft. He also became the first player from the Yukon to represent Canada at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, winning gold in 2020. In 2025, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators at the deadline, made his Stanley Cup playoff debut, and hit the 200-point mark of his NHL career.
Dylan Cozens Career Wins
Across his junior, international, and NHL career, Dylan Cozens has accumulated a series of individual awards and team accomplishments. He won the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s top rookie in 2017–18, was named a WHL Eastern Conference First Team All-Star in 2019–20, and finished as runner-up for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy. Internationally, he captured a silver medal at the 2017 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, gold at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, gold at the 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, and silver medals at the 2021 World Juniors and the 2022 IIHF World Championship. He was also named to the tournament all-star team at both the 2021 World Juniors and the 2024 IIHF World Championship.
WHL Highlights
Cozens played 179 regular-season WHL games for the Lethbridge Hurricanes, recording 95 goals and 223 points, and added 14 goals and 29 points in 35 postseason games. His first WHL goal came in his debut on November 13, 2016, against the Saskatoon Blades, and his first WHL hat-trick came on January 13, 2018, in a 5–2 win over the Kootenay Ice. His most productive WHL season was 2019–20, when he posted 38 goals and 85 points in 51 games before the season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other Wins & Performances
Cozens won WHL Rookie of the Month honours in both October 2017 and April 2018, and was named WHL Player of the Week on multiple occasions. He was also a finalist for the CHL Rookie of the Year award in 2017–18 and captained Team Cherry at the 2019 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
Dylan Cozens Family
Family Background and Hockey Lineage
Dylan Cozens was born to Mike Cozens and Sue Bogle in Whitehorse, Yukon. His father built a backyard rink that became the foundation of Dylan’s early hockey development, and the family’s decision to relocate him to British Columbia at age 14 reflected a shared commitment to his progression through the sport. Cozens is part of a broader Yukon hockey community that has produced relatively few elite-level players, a fact that made his first-round NHL draft selection in 2019 a notable milestone for the territory.
Personal Life
Cozens continues to maintain ties to his Whitehorse roots, where his parents still live. He is active on social media and is represented online by his official Twitter and Instagram accounts. Public details about his marital status, spouse, and children are not widely confirmed, and that information is therefore not included here.
2025 Season Performance
The 2024–25 season was a turning point in Cozens’ career. After several seasons as a top-six centre in Buffalo, he was dealt to the Ottawa Senators at the trade deadline on March 7, 2025, in a swap built around Josh Norris. Playing on a line with Drake Batherson and David Perron, Cozens produced five goals and 16 points in 21 regular-season games with Ottawa and made his Stanley Cup playoff debut in a first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Heading into the 2025–26 season, Cozens dedicated two months to offseason work with Sam Gagner, the Senators’ director of player development, focused on refining the defensive side of his game. Through the first 11 games of the new campaign, he had recorded 10 points but carried a minus-10 plus-minus rating, an area of emphasis for a player and organization committed to a more complete 200-foot game.
The outlook for Cozens in Ottawa centres on his potential as a matchup-driving two-way centre in a young Senators core. With a long-term contract and a clear development plan, his 2025–26 performance will be a key indicator of whether his trade to Ottawa marks the start of a new prime.