The Ottawa Senators can look back at one of their boldest recent moves and feel pretty comfortable with how it played out.
At the 2025 NHL trade deadline, Ottawa dealt Josh Norris to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Dylan Cozens, a swap that came with real risk attached. Norris was the bigger name, the more established scorer, and the kind of player a team doesn’t move lightly. But the Senators made the call, and with time, it looks like they got out at the right moment.
Norris still has plenty of talent. That part has never been in doubt.
What finally caught up to him was the same issue that has shadowed his career: injuries, along with stretches of inconsistency that never really went away. His 35-goal season in 2021-22 looked like the start of something bigger, but that peak now feels far off.
He did manage one more 20-goal season in Ottawa before the organization moved on.
Since arriving in Buffalo, the picture has only gotten murkier. Norris hasn’t been able to stay healthy, and that has opened the door for other prospects to climb past him on the depth chart.
He’s now in third-line duty on the wing, and his production hasn’t helped his case. Through 14 games, he has two goals and three points.
At this pace, he could slide even further down the lineup.
Cozens, meanwhile, has looked far more comfortable in Ottawa. The Senators gave the 25-year-old the fresh start he seemed to need after it became clear he no longer wanted to be in Buffalo. He had struggled to settle in with the Sabres, and after Buffalo’s season went sideways in 2024-25, he asked out.
The change worked. Cozens jumped right in with Ottawa and put up five goals and 16 points in his first 21 games.
He carried that momentum into a 28-goal season last year, and this season he has four goals and 10 points in 16 games. For the Senators, that’s the kind of return that makes the trade look better by the month.
The rest of the deal has mostly been reshuffled elsewhere. The second-round pick Ottawa received eventually went to the Toronto Maple Leafs after being sent to Los Angeles in the Warren Foegele deal, and then the Kings sent it to Toronto for Scott Laughton. Dennis Gilbert, the other player in the trade, later signed back with the Sabres in free agency.
Ottawa also moved Jacob Bernard-Docker to Buffalo, and he, too, ended up elsewhere after signing with the Detroit Red Wings in free agency.
In Other News...
Senators Give Two Depth Names A Big Chance In Buffalo
The Senators finish their five-game road trip in Buffalo with a lineup that looks a lot like the one they used in Anaheim, but there are still a couple of fresh wrinkles for a team trying to get through the stretch without much margin for error. Sammy Blais is set to make his regular-season debut for Ottawa, a chance earned in part by the injuries that have thinned the group and opened a door for depth players to step in and matter.
Carter Yakemchuk is also expected back in the lineup after missing the previous game, giving Ottawa another young option on the blue line as Nikolas Matinpalo sits out with illness. Samuel Ersson gets the start in goal, and with the road trip winding down, the Senators are again leaning on a mix of regulars and call-up energy to get through one more game before heading home. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Catch A Break As Senators Face Another Goalie Issue
An optional skate offered a little hope, but it did not change the outlook for Ottawa in goal. Linus Ullmark took part in the session, yet he will not start against the Buffalo Sabres because of a lower-body injury, leaving the Senators to lean on Samuel Ersson again as they try to manage another night without their usual setup in net.
The lineup hit did not stop there, either. Defenseman Tyler Kleven will also miss the game because of illness, adding another absence for a Senators team already dealing with a thin margin for error as it faces Buffalo. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Power Play Problem Is Starting To Put Travis Green On Spot
The Senators power play has become one of the clearest trouble spots in the early part of the season, and it is starting to put Travis Green in an uncomfortable position. Ottawa has had chances to cash in with the extra man, but the unit has too often looked disjointed, with sluggish puck movement, sloppy passing and too little sustained pressure to make opponents pay.
For a team that needs every edge it can get, the lack of finishing touch on special teams has fed into the bigger scoring concerns around the roster. The encouraging part is that the fix does not seem mysterious, with more shooting and cleaner movement among the adjustments that could help, but until the Senators show they can turn those ideas into results, the spotlight on Green and his staff is only going to get brighter. [Read more 🡒]