What I see from the Sabers ahead of the NHL Global Series games in Prague

PRAGUE – Dylan Cozens takes his summer training seriously. He always has. Even after a statistically poor year last season, the Buffalo Sabres' No. 2 center didn't feel the need to significantly overhaul his off-ice routine. What changed, however, was the number he saw when he stepped on the scale. Between the end of last season and the start of training camp, Cozens gained 14 pounds. He is 12 pounds heavier than he was at the start of training camp last season.

“This summer my body was able to gain a little more weight naturally,” Cozens said. “Finally. I feel like I've gotten bigger, stronger and faster.”

Cozens doesn't turn 24 until about midway through the season. He's just beginning to reach the physical maturity that fits the tough, direct style of play he's been trying to develop since entering the league. New coach Lindy Ruff loves Cozens so much that he is one of the team's four assistant captains.

When Ruff took the job, he first began learning more about his players by watching videos. Cozens was one of Buffalo's players who were able to absorb the disappointment of the 2023/24 season and take it with them to the World Cup in Prague. He led the tournament in goals, scoring nine goals for Team Canada. It was reminiscent of the performance he showed in the same tournament two years ago before his breakthrough in the 2022/23 season. And although participating in this tournament interrupted his summer training, he still achieved the desired results.

Cozens knows he's had a tough season and that he still needs to figure out what type of player he can be in this league. In this way, his development is one of the keys to Buffalo's season. He is in the second year of a contract that will pay him $7.1 million annually. That could be a steal if he becomes a two-way center capable of taking charge of his own business and putting up 65+ points. Internally, belief in Cozens is as strong as ever. That's why he has a letter on his jersey. Ruff praised Cozens for his performance on the ice, communication with coaches and his willingness to speak up to bolster the bench.

“As I've grown and become more comfortable here, it's something I've seen for myself: being someone who can take a leadership role on this team for a long time and help set the standard and culture here,” Cozens said.

Now perhaps the letter can give him the added confidence to return to the player he was two seasons ago. He looks and sounds like someone who is ready, but we'll find out when the regular season begins Friday against the New Jersey Devils.

Here's what else we saw and heard from the Sabers in Prague leading up to the two Global Series games.

Samuelsson another key factor

Mattias Samuelsson became Ruff's favorite early on. Samuelsson is easy to get along with on and off the ice and plays a style of play that Ruff can easily respect. So it made sense when Ruff gave Samuelsson one of the four A's. But Samuelsson didn't expect that.

“One of the reasons I was surprised is that in some ways I still feel like I’m a rookie coming into the NHL,” Samuelsson said of how fast his first few seasons have felt. “And I have to have shoulder surgery, so I wanted to be prepared at the start of the year and prove myself again. The combination of those two things made it a little shocking. I'm still young, but I'm just trying to grow from the foundation we have. I think there are people here who don't have letters and are leaders, so not much changes. The group dynamic is pretty cool.”

Because of this shoulder injury, Samuelsson only played 41 games last season and only 55 games the year before that. Like Cozens, he is in the second year of a long-term contract extension that he still wants to live up to. Adams relied early on on the up-and-coming young players he saw as the core of the Sabres. Samuelsson plays physical defense and has often put his body on the line. This is one of the reasons for some of his injuries, but it is also the reason why he is popular with his teammates.

“It's cool to have recognition and realize that your teammates ask you for advice every now and then or that you have a say in which direction that rope is pulled,” Samuelsson said.

Samuelsson starts the season with Connor Clifton as the third defensive pairing, and that role suits him. Maybe playing fewer minutes will help him play in more games this season. If Ruff gets the forwards to play better team defense on the backcheck, it will help all the defensemen.

Mattias Samuelsson talks to trainer Lindy Ruff during training in Germany. (Ben Jackson/NHLI via Getty Images)

Other defense pairs

With Rasmus Dahlin back in training for the last week and a half, we've mostly seen him with Henri Jokiharju. This is a great opportunity for Jokiharju, but also a sensible pairing. The on-ice results for Jokiharju and Owen Power as a pair weren't great last season, and the same goes for Dahlin and Bo Byram. The Sabers brought Dahlin and Byram together after the Sabers traded for Byram, in part to showcase their new acquisition and boost his confidence. Byram showed his offensive potential early on, but he and Dahlin were too similar in some ways. Dahlin wanted to return to a more comfortable playing partner.

It will be worth seeing how Byram fits into the mix, especially during a contract year. In terms of expected on-ice goal share in five-on-five play last season, Buffalo's top three pairings were Dahlin-Jokiharju (56 percent), Samuelsson-Power (56 percent) and Power-Dahlin (54 percent). . Power told me he enjoyed playing with Byram because he felt like they thought the game the same way. They were also together on the second power play unit. This will be a much easier situation to assess Byram's type of player. Last season his defensive partners changed often and it seemed like he was just mentally trying to get used to the new surroundings. Now he has some stability for the new year.

Power play comes into focus

Dahlin said Wednesday he won't know how the power play plays out until the group gets game reps. The Sabers have worked a lot on the power play in the last few days of practice and Ruff believes he has two good units. These are the units we have seen in practice:

• First unit: Tage Thompson, Dahlin, JJ Peterka, Alex Tuch, Jack Quinn
• Second unit: Bo Byram, Power, Jason Zucker, Cozens, Zach Benson

Ruff and new power play coach Seth Appert emphasize more player movement, better work ethic and more net presence. We have already seen this in practice. The competitiveness and urgency are much better. And with new signings like Beck Malenstyn, Ryan McLeod and Sam Lafferty, they get a good chance against a potentially strong penalty killer. One thing to always keep an eye on early in the season is how smooth zone entries are on the power play. That's what I'm going to address with this group because when it's set up in the zone, it looks good.

Quick hits

• You've probably noticed the retro pads that Devon Levi is wearing. He's still waiting for his custom set with the Sabers colors to arrive, but he's taken a liking to the brown pads and said he might pull them out every now and then. We'll probably see these toppings in action in Prague this weekend.

• A theme that came up while writing about Buffalo's new fourth-liners was that each of these additions is a player who has had to prove himself time and time again. Nicolas Aubé-Kubel hopes this can be a place where he and his family can stay.

“I’ve been moving around a lot, especially recently,” he said. “Hopefully I can calm down this year and make a bigger name for myself. It would be fun to work with a team more regularly and build something.”

Aubé-Kubel has a one-year contract worth $1.5 million.

• I haven't ruled out the possibility that the Sabers keep three goaltenders on the roster if they have to cut to 23 players on October 7th. James Reimer's $1 million salary could be passed on to the AHL via waivers, but goaltending situations around the league could change that. The Boston Bruins just claimed goaltender Jiří Patera off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks as they work to sign Jeremy Swayman. Reimer isn't particularly flashy, but he performed decently last season and has a long track record in the NHL. That's the only roster decision that could be interesting when the Sabers return home.

• The NHL salary cap is expected to rise to $92.5 million next season, slightly higher than the salary cap estimate we used in our salary cap forecast last week. The higher number only further underscores that Buffalo's upcoming restricted free agents all have a reason to be patient. Another strong season could increase Peterka's value even further. Quinn wants to have a healthy season and Byram and McLeod want to play a full year with their new teams to establish their value. Levi has no reason to rush to sign either. The key for Adams will be finding the right time to push for these deals during the season when these players are ready. At the moment it is the status quo.

(Photo of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Devon Levi, JJ Peterka, Mattias Samuelsson and Tage Thompson: Ben Ludeman / NHLI via Getty Images)