By Canadian Press

Yukon’s Dylan Cozens selected seventh overall by Buffalo Sabres at NHL draft

Jun 23, 2019 | 7:04 PM

VANCOUVER — Growing up north of the 60th parallel, the NHL seemed far away to Dylan Cozens.

It was, literally.

Now everything’s a whole lot closer for the Whitehorse native.

Cozens was selected seventh overall by the Buffalo Sabres at the NHL draft on Friday, making him the first-ever Yukon product to be picked in the opening round.

“It always felt like a far-fetched dream and not really achievable,” said the 18-year-old centre. “But I believed it and I believed in myself that I could make this happen one day.

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“Now that it’s finally here, it’s a crazy feeling.”

Cozens — pronounced “cousins” — spent the last two full seasons playing for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League. After putting up 53 points as a rookie in the WHL, he recorded 34 goals and 50 assists in 68 games in 2018-19 to help set up his big night at Rogers Arena.

“It’s just crazy. It’s so exciting,” Cozens said. “It’s just an unbelievable moment. It’s something I’ve worked towards my whole life.

“Now I know a whole new journey’s just begun.”

Cozens, who learned the game on a backyard rink that often stayed frozen from November to March, left home at age 14 to pursue his hockey dream after running out of places to play in the territory.

The final straw came when he broke his leg in a game against men twice his age and double his size in a recreational league.

Once healthy, Cozens enrolled at a hockey prep school in the Vancouver suburb of Delta, B.C., before transferring to another institution the following year in nearby Abbotsford when he was 15.

Selected 19th overall by Lethbridge in the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft, he entered Friday’s draft as the fifth-ranked North American skater, according to NHL Central Scouting.

Cozens said he feels like a trail blazer for other Yukon hockey players with big dreams.

“I know it’s going to be crazier when I go back,” Cozens said. “I’m happy to be that guy that paves the path for hockey in the Yukon.”

Only two players born in Yukon have ever stepped onto NHL ice. Peter Sturgeon and Bryon Baltimore suited up for eight total games, although the latter, now an agent, played 331 times in the World Hockey Association.

Jarret Deuling, who was born in Vernon, B.C., and raised in the territory, was taken in the third round of the 1992 draft by the New York Islanders, playing a total of 15 NHL games.

Bobby House of Whitehorse was selected in the third round by the Chicago Blackhawks the previous year, but never played in the NHL. Faro’s Gerard Dicaire, who also never played in the NHL, was selected in the second round in 2000 by the Buffalo Sabres before re-entering the draft in 2002, when he was taken in the fifth round by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

No player from Yukon has ever scored in the NHL.

“It means so much,” Cozens said of being drafted in the first round. “I have so much support up there in the Yukon. I know there are so many people that are watching tonight. My phone’s going to be absolutely blowing up when I check it.

“I’m so happy to represent the Yukon. I’m so proud to be from there.”

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Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press