Quote:
Originally Posted by Poe969
Would you consider Cozens to be a risk? I still think that if they can get Cozens, 8OA and Miller, it's the deal to take. I think Cozens could step in and be second behind Monahan for a couple of years until he becomes the #1C. There aren't 'many deals out there where we are going to get a player of equal value back. It's the time for the Flames to plug up some other holes, Cozens looks like a future elite C and with the #8 pick they're getting a high end prospect, one of the forwards listed, Drysdale or even Askarov which would be HUGE for the team's future. Miller looks like he could step in and play in the top 4 and really help the loss of Hamonic and Brodie.
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The team would have to be confident that Cozens is able to step in and play at this level. I'm not so sure. If he was like Frost and had that season of pro under his belt I would be much more confident. As it is I suspect he's going back to junior. The COVID break is likely to put the breaks on development and teams will be much more inclined to watch a young guy go through a period of success and domination before pushing him forward. I think he would be going back with the expectation of him representing at the WJHC and showing where he stands. To me, Cozens has to come back, dominate at junior another year, be a big player on the international stage, and show he is an elite player before I buy the hype. This is why I like Frost so much. He dominated two years of junior, went to the WJHC for his country, lead the team in scoring and won gold, stepped into pro and was the best player on his team, then got a short audition on a pretty good squad. He's stepping up and has a track record of stepping up. I have to see the same from Cozens.
Not sure how I feel about Miller. For what he is making he needs to play top four, but I'm not sure he's a top four defenseman. He's a serviceable guy, but I don't think he's as good as we need to backfill the hole in the lineup. He might be, but at that salary, he has to be. This is where having Lucic on the club makes deals like this that much more difficult. You could accept bringing in a guy that maybe is a little overpaid for what he brings, but with Lucic in the mix, everyone has to punch above their salary to get value.
I don't mind this deal so long as the team is 100% certain on the players that they will be stepping in and contributing. There is no player in this deal that you can immediately point to and say, "Yes, this guy is going to prevent us from taking a step backward because we lose Johnny."