BUFFALO, N.Y. — The NHL All-Star break began with defenseman Rasmus Dahlin taking the place of center Tage Thompson to represent Buffalo in the All-Star Game after Thompson was seen evidently hurting with an upper body injury in their last game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams told the media on Thursday that the break could not have come at a better time for Thompson and his healing process.
Adams also mentioned that Thompson was back on the ice Thursday morning but they chose to have him sit out at practice with the rest of the guys. He said that if all continues to go well, Thompson will be fully back at practice on Friday and will be set to play in the game on Saturday afternoon.
Some other news to come out of the break was Dylan Cozens' seven-year contract extension for $49.7 million.
Adams and head coach Don Granato both had a lot of positive things to say about Cozens and his future in Buffalo. The one thing that was continuously brought up and emphasized was his desire to be a Buffalo Sabre for many years to come.
"He deserves it," Granato said. "He has earned it and it's great. It's phenomenal. He wants to be here obviously."
For Cozens, he talked about how excited he is for his future and his family to be able to stay in one place for so long. He also took some time to discuss his vision for the Sabres organization in the years to come.
"My vision is for this team to be a contender every single year," Cozens said. "That's the goal we have is to win Stanley Cups and I think we all believe that's something we can do and that's the potential we have in this room. So, it made it really easy for me to want to be here for a long time."
Cozens went on to say that since the day he was drafted to the Buffalo Sabres, he knew that he wanted to be a part of the change and wanted to help turn the organization around.
This long-term deal is fairly similar to the deal that Adams drew up with Thompson in August of 2022. That is, seven years for $50 million.
Now with the NHL trade deadline slowly but surely approaching on March third, the big question, as the Sabres try to inch closer to a spot in the playoffs, is whether or not trading for a veteran to give the team short-term success is something that Adams would consider.
After hearing from him on Thursday, it is very evident that Adams is a firm believer in growing his young players and looking at the "bigger picture."
"We will not compromise short term, you know today's success for the vision in the longer term," Adams said. "The reason I believe in that so much is because we want to set this organization up for sustainable success.
"Year after year giving yourself the chance to be there and you get in, and then anything can happen, but you have to have that sustainable success year after year to give yourself those shots."
Therefore, it looks like Adams along with the rest of the Sabres organization are going to continue to stick to their own game plan as their playoff push comes into full-swing.