Dylan Cozens will be joining Canada for the IIHF World Hockey Championship next month, the Buffalo Sabres forward revealed on Thursday.

Cozens was speaking as the Sabres met the media during locker cleanout day after the team missed the playoffs for a 13th consecutive season.

A 24-year-old native of Whitehorse, Cozens just completed his fourth NHL season. In 79 games this year, Cozens scored 18 goals and added 29 assists.

Originally taken with the seventh overall selection of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft out of the Western Hockey League’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, Cozens has 66 goals and 100 assists in 280 games.

Next month’s worlds will be the second time Cozens has represented Canada at the senior level. Cozens had seven goals and six assists in 10 games at the 2022 worlds in Finland where Canada finished as runners-up.

Cozens was also a member of Canada’s gold medal-winning entry at the 2020 World Junior Hockey Championships in Czechia.