Even after acquiring Morgan Frost from the Philadelphia Flyers last week, the Calgary Flames reportedly still have their sights set on adding another young centre: Dylan Cozens.

The 23-year-old pivot has struggled at times to live up to the seven-year, $7.1 million AAV contract he signed with the Buffalo Sabres back in 2023, but he’s a semi-recent No. 7 overall pick who scored 31 goals in 81 games two seasons ago.

As FlamesNation managing editor Ryan Pike would say, Cozens is both big (6’3″, 194) and local (he played for the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes). He also has a tremendous nickname: “The Workhorse from Whitehorse.” Through 52 games with the Sabres this season, Cozens has 10 goals and 26 points.

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun discussed the Flames’ interest in Cozens and how he might fit into a Calgary organization that now includes both Frost and Joel Farabee.

“Despite being legitimately in a playoff race — Calgary absolutely has a chance to make the playoffs — they’re not going to let their short-term goals affect the longer-term vision, which is this: Calgary won’t go out and spend big assets on rental players,” LeBrun said. “If they do something else that’s at least impactful, it’s once again going to be a hockey trade like we saw last week.

“So, with that in mind, there’s a name that, my understanding is, the Calgary Flames remain interested in despite the acquisition last week of Frost and Farabee, and that’s Dylan Cozens in Buffalo. Now, the Flames have been enamoured with him all year long.

“I don’t know if they have the pieces to make a deal work with the Buffalo Sabres for a couple of reasons: One, I don’t think Kevyn Adams in Buffalo is actually shopping Dylan Cozens. He’s taking calls, because Buffalo’s in last place and he has to take calls, but if he moves Dylan Cozens, who’s signed to a long-term deal, I think it’s going to have to be apples for apples and not just a futures deal.

“And listen, two thirds of the league has checked in with Buffalo on Dylan Cozens. He’s obviously a name that’s garnered a lot of attention. But he’s a name that fits into what Calgary is planning long-term, a right-shot, young centre who’s 23 years old, so whether or not they can actually get this conversation to go to another level remains to be seen but he would be a name that remains on Calgary’s radar.”

The Flames certainly have room for more young forwards to enter their lineup, although their centre depth already looks much stronger than it did a week ago with Frost in the fold. Additionally, Flames GM Craig Conroy indicated in an interview on Tuesday that Connor Zary is expected to return from his knee injury after the 4 Nations Face-Off.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Flames currently have eight NHL roster forwards signed beyond the end of this season: Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, Yegor Sharangovich, Farabee, Blake Coleman, Mikael Backlund, Ryan Lomberg, and Martin Pospisil. Additionally, the Flames have Frost, Zary, Matt Coronato, and Adam Klapka as pending RFAs.

Since making his NHL debut with the Sabres in the 2020-21 season, Cozens has collected 76 goals and 192 points in 332 career games. He has only ever played for the Sabres, which means he has yet to appear in a Stanley Cup Playoff game, but he did win gold with Team Canada at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship.

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