Dylan Cozens Might Be the Player the Senators Need Right Now

Some players you watch because they score goals. Other players you watch because they seem to do a little bit of everything. Dylan Cozens might be becoming one of those players for the Ottawa Senators.

His preseason numbers from Monday are easy enough to describe. He had a goal and an assist in Ottawa's 3-2 overtime loss to Montreal. He assisted on William Eklund's first goal as a Senator and then scored one himself. Nothing wrong with that. But the more interesting part isn't what Cozens did Monday night. It's what Ottawa might be asking him to do this season.

Cozens May Be Asked to Become More Than a Secondary Player.

Cozens had a pretty good first season in Ottawa last year. He scored 28 goals and 59 points while putting 205 shots on net and throwing 215 hits. That's a strange combination. Usually, when we talk about a 28-goal scorer, we're talking about the scoring. With Cozens, it's more than that.

He shoots. He scores. He hits. He can play with some edge. He can contribute offensively without being the guy everybody is talking about every night. And now Brady Tkachuk is gone. That changes things.

Tkachuk wasn't just Ottawa's captain. He was one of the team's major offensive pieces and one of its most recognizable personalities. The Senators traded him to Florida in June, leaving Ottawa with a pretty obvious question: Who picks up some of what he leaves behind?

Maybe the answer isn't one player. Maybe it's several players taking a little more responsibility. Cozens looks like one of those players.

This Is Where It Gets Interesting for the Senators.

What I like about Cozens in this situation is that Ottawa doesn't need him to suddenly become Tkachuk. In fact, that would be asking the wrong question. Cozens doesn't have to replace Tkachuk player-for-player. He has to become a little more important to the Senators. That's different.

The Senators already have Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson. They added William Eklund. They still have Claude Giroux and Shane Pinto. The idea seems to be that Ottawa can replace some of Tkachuk's production through a group effort rather than finding one player who simply steps into his shoes. NHL.com has Eklund and Cozens projected in Ottawa's top six this season.

And Monday was a little reminder of what Cozens can bring. He helped Eklund score. Then he scored himself. That's the kind of hockey Ottawa may need. Not necessarily spectacular hockey. Not trying to become the next superstar. Just being involved.

The Bottom Line for Cozens and the Senators.

Cozens may not be the biggest name on the Senators. He may not be the player most people think about when they talk about Ottawa's future. But if he can turn last year's 28-goal, 59-point season into something a little bigger — while continuing to bring the physical side of his game — he could become one of the players who makes the post-Tkachuk Senators work.

Sometimes replacing a big player isn't about finding another big player. Sometimes it's about asking several good players to become a little more important. Cozens may be one of those guys.