With Rantanen's future on hold in Carolina, Senators acquire Cozens ahead of NHL trade deadline

While Mikko Rantanen’s immediate future remains on hold in Carolina, the Ottawa Senators acquired Buffalo forward Dylan Cozens to help boost their late-season playoff hopes ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline on Friday.

In acquiring Cozens, a 2019 first-round draft pick, defenseman Dennis Gilbert and a 2026 second-round draft pick, Ottawa dealt center Josh Norris and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker to the Eastern Conference’s last-place Sabres. Norris was a first-round pick in 2017 and Bernard-Docker a first-round selection the following draft.

The Senators are making the push under two years into Michael Andlauer's ownership and seeking to end a seven-season playoff drought.

The 24-year-old Cozens is the key to the deal for Ottawa, which entered Friday holding the East’s eighth and final playoff berth. Since scoring a career-best 31 goals in 2022-23, Cozens has struggled in combining for 29 goals over his past two seasons, which coincided with him signing a seven-year, $49.7 million contract.

Much like Cozens, Norris’ production has dropped since he scored a career-best 35 goals in 2021-22. He’s combined for just 38 goals over the past three seasons and in the third year of an eight-year, $63.6 million contract.

The 24-year-old Bernard-Docker has appeared in just 129 NHL games over the past five seasons, and has a goal and four points in 25 outings this year. Gilbert is a physical defenseman who has played a bit role in Buffalo, with five assists in 25 games this year.

Meanwhile, Rantanen remains the focus ahead of the trade deadline, with the Carolina Hurricanes holding the keys to by far the most dominant player potentially available.

The Hurricanes could flip the 2022 Stanley Cup-winning point-a-game, top-line forward they acquired in late January to another contender or opt to keep him in the hopes of going on a long playoff run and taking a shot at a championship of their own. Carolina sent leading scorer Martin Necas, young Jack Drury and two draft picks to Colorado for Rantanen and now seem unlikely to sign him to an extension before 3 p.m. EST.

The risk is losing the 28-year-old Finn for nothing if he walks in free agency July 1. That was a fear for the Avalanche that spurred the trade to begin with, and now Rantanen could end up back in the Western Conference on a team they face in a best-of-seven series.

“We don’t make deals thinking about pivot points by what the other team is going to do,” Colorado general manager Chris MacFarland said this week. “Obviously, he’s a great player and he will continue to be wherever he is.”

Stay or go is also a question for pending free agent Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand, Kyle Palmieri of the New York Islanders and Scott Laughton of the Philadelphia Flyers, among others. The Islanders traded center Brock Nelson to Colorado late Thursday night.

Boston also already began selling, trading big forward Trent Frederic to Edmonton this week and Justin Brazeau to Minnesota on Thursday night and may not be done.

Marchand has said he would like to remain with the team he helped win the Cup in 2011 and has played his entire career for. But the Bruins could be headed toward a type of rebuild or youth movement.

Defending champion Florida, which beat the Oilers in the final last year, also has room to add more talent with top winger Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve and possibly aiming to return for Game 1 of the first round. The Panthers already got top-four defenseman Seth Jones from Chicago and could use Tkachuk's salary exemption against the cap the way other teams have in the past to load up when injuries last through the end of the regular season.

Among the players expected to be traded before the deadline are Pittsburgh's Rickard Rakell, Chicago's Ryan Donato, Seattle's Brandon Tanev and San Jose's Luke Kunin.

Earlier Friday, the Sabres took forward Jason Zucker off the market by signing the 14th-year player to a two-year, $9.5 million contract extension, a person with direct knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.

The 33-year-old Zucker was signed to a one-year contract last summer and he has 18 goals and 44 points in 54 games this season.

The Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals made their first move ahead of the deadline by acquiring winger Anthony Beauvillier from rival Pittsburgh for a 2025 second-round pick. They are still believed to be looking for defensive depth.

Andrei Kuzmenko is back in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race with the Los Angeles Kings. Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella told reporters at practice the team traded Kuzmenko to the Kings, five weeks after acquiring him from Calgary in a multiplayer deal.

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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl