Lately, there’s been a bit of chatter around Dylan Cozens potentially being on the block for the Buffalo Sabres. Acquiring a guy like Brady Tkachuk might be the move that the Sabres need to boost them out of their (quite long at this point) rut. Conversely, moving Cozens—another player with a slower start to his season—might provide a boost in the form of a new environment and a fresh start. But Cozens alone wouldn’t be enough to acquire Tkachuk. He doesn’t bring the same level of offensive output that Tkachuk does, for one thing.
With Cozens’ salary being what it is, it nearly eats up all the cap space that trading Tkachuk would free up, so it doesn’t make much sense to try and bring another roster player back as well. The Senators would then have to send another one of their roster players to make the math work, and frankly, that could easily turn into a game of musical chairs. And while the Sabres’ prospect pool isn’t terrible, it would make sense for the Senators to acquire another pick, rather than a prospect, so that they could use it to select a player themselves.