NHL Trade Rumors: Josh Norris Had 2 Other Suitors at Deadline Before Trade to Sabres

The Ottawa Senators pulled off a huge deal at the trade deadline earlier this month, sending centre Josh Norris and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker to the Buffalo Sabres for center Dylan Cozens and defenseman Dennis Gilbert. But it turns out that Norris had two other suitors at the deadline that were looking to swing a deal with Ottawa.

According to Bruce Garrioch in the Ottawa Citizen, it sounds like Norris was the focal point of other trade conversations before the Sabres came along.

The Senators had held serious talks with the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators heading into deadline day regarding Norris, but neither of those deals materialized.

Luckily for Sens GM Steve Staios, the talks with the Canucks and Preds didn't work out, as he was then able to turn Norris into top young center Dylan Cozens just hours before the deadline on March 7th. Neither Vancouver nor Nashville would have been able to top that return.

"Staios understood that moving Norris would send shockwaves through his dressing room," writes Garrioch, "but it’s the job of management to improve the club. The Senators feel that Cozens brings more of an edge, especially at this time of year when physical hockey is so important".

And while teammates like Brady Tkachuk were devastated at losing Norris, Cozens has had a tremendous start with Ottawa, recording three goals and six points in his first seven games, heading into Saturday night's play. He has also led the team with 28 hits over that period.

Silver lining.. Dylan Cozens is good at hockey.. that's his 6th point in 7 games as an Ottawa Senator #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/0gvX1CkTIc
— Coming In Hot (@ComingInHotSens) March 21, 2025

Norris, after starting well with Buffalo, has missed four straight games including Saturday night's tilt, due to an undisclosed injury. He hasn't been practicing and so will very likely be sitting out his 5th straight on Sunday.