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Fantasy Summary

A two-way forward whose defensive instincts come more naturally than his offensive game. Provides a defensive checking presence for his team with occasional contributions at the other end.


Observations

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July 2024- Kozak has improved his offensive output this season, although he remains a mostly defensive player with Rochester. His tenacity remains a strong attribute, although his ability to register and react to offensive situations requires more development. There are often games when he does not record a shot on goal. He scored five goals and 12 points in 41 games in 2023-2024, a modest improvement over his rookie campaign’s pace. His season was interrupted by an injury in February, keeping him out of Rochester’s lineup until March 16. He is slated to become an RFA at the end of the 2024-2025 season. Kevin Wong

May 2023 – Kozak was one of the AHL’s youngest players in 2022-2023, making his debut at the age of 19 after graduating from his role as captain of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. In his rookie campaign with the Rochester Americans, he scored five goals and 10 points in 55 games. Continuing from where he left off in the WHL, his most significant contributions have been in his team’s defensive zone. He has provided checking support throughout the season and demonstrated grit as well as determination in hampering his opponent’s forecheck, improving upon some of his previous deficiencies. He blocks shots and accepts a physical toll to move the puck up the ice safely, but still lacks a sufficient degree of vision as well as experience to generate offense consistently. His coach this season has occasionally experimented with him at wing alongside numerous offensive players to provide a puck pursuit element to those lines. This has proven to be fruitful thus far, particularly in the postseason, as Kozak currently has a plus-minus rating of plus-five and has scored two goals as well as an assist in five playoff games. He spent some time on a line with leading scorer Lukas Rousek and top prospect Isak Rosen among others during their best-of-five series against Syracuse. Their next playoff opponent will be Toronto in the North Division Final. –Kevin Wong

 

June 2022 – Kozak finished his draft-plus-one season with 32 goals and 37 assists in 66 games with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. The undersized forward continues to be stronger on the defensive side of the puck than offensively but has diversified his game as a 19-year-old at the WHL level. He spent time centering the Winterhawks’ first line and finished fourth among Winterhawks skaters in scoring this season. During the 2022 WHL Playoffs, he scored two goals and three assists in 10 games. Kevin Wong

Attributes
Fantasy Upside 4.0
NHL Certainty 6.5
Country CAN
Position C
Roster Type Minors
Shoot/Glove Left
Date of Birth December 29, 2002
Height 5‘11”
Weight 179 lbs
Drafted 2021 Round 7; Overall: 193

Stats

 Season Team League GP G A TP PIM      Playoffs GP G A TP PIM 
 2015-2016 Southwest Cougars U15 AAAWAAA U1533 11 1324 18|Playoffs2 0 00
 2016-2017 Southwest Cougars U15 AAAWAAA U1536 28 2957 16|        
 2017-2018 Southwest Cougars U18 AAAMU18HL44 10 2535 22|Playoffs3 0 00
  Team Manitoba WHL Cup5 0 00 2|        
 2018-2019 Southwest Cougars U18 AAAMU18HL40 26 4672 54|Playoffs7 1 23 12 
  Portland WinterhawksWHL5 0 00 2|Playoffs4 0 00
 2019-2020 Portland WinterhawksWHL63 13 1629 15|        
 2020-2021 Dauphin KingsMJHL1 0 11 0|        
  Portland WinterhawksWHL18 3 811 13|        
 2021-2022 Portland WinterhawksWHL66 32 3769 42|Playoffs10 2 35
 2022-2023 Rochester AmericansAHL55 5 510 40|Playoffs14 2 35
 2023-2024 Rochester AmericansAHL41 5 712 14|Playoffs4 0 00
 2024-2025 Rochester AmericansAHL- - -- -|        

Highlights