Cozens having a breakthrough season

By Lethbridge Herald on November 3, 2025.

By Nathan Reiter

Lethbridge Herald- Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

The 2025-26 WHL season has been a coming out party for Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Luke Cozens.

Cozens, a product of Whitehorse, Yukon, is in his third WHL season with the Hurricanes after being selected by Lethbridge in the seventh round of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, 140th overall.

In 110 career regular season games over the last two seasons, Cozens had registered a total of 17 points with his career best single season point total being just 10 last season. In just 17 games with the Hurricanes this season, Cozens has enjoyed his best individual campaign to date with 10 goals and 11 helpers and is tied in team scoring with Shane Smith. His 21 total points sit ninth  across the entire WHL.

Hurricane assistant coach Ryan Aasman says Cozens came into the season with a lot more confidence after putting the work in during the offseason.

“He’s been a guy that’s been a great team player all the way through and always very coachable but lacked confidence with the puck and I think that came from having a big off-season. When you talk about confidence, you talk about preparation and he really put in the work in the summer to take two or three steps, came in with an attitude and a mentality that was very strong and you see with his results now. This is all just Luke taking huge steps and being a pro.”

Signs of what was to come this season began to surface for Cozens in the playoffs last year. In 16 playoff games, Cozens registered one goal and five assists to help Lethbridge reach the Eastern Conference Final for the third time in the last decade.

“I think I ended last year on a good note.” Cozens explained in an interview with the Herald. “I think I stepped up a bit in playoffs, built a lot of confidence through that run. I think just a big summer coming into the season, a bit more opportunity, confidence, everything like that obviously helped.”

While Cozens has been a leader for the Hurricanes on offense this season, he has played a role in the Lethbridge dressing room. For the first time in his WHL career, Cozens was named to the Hurricane leadership group as an assistant captain alongside captain Logan Wormald and assistants Shane Smith and Matteo Fabrizi.

Cozens was the only non-overage player to be given a letter by the Hurricane coaching staff. Aasman says Cozens is still in the process of learning how to lead the team in the locker room.

“I think he’s growing in that way. I think it’s the first time he can really have his voice heard. There’s moments where he’s learning how to do it and the moments to do it. He’s got three 20-year-olds that are good in supporting him to do that stuff and encouraging him to do it as well. But for him, he’s earned the right to say whatever he wants, and his play has backed it up.”

According to the team website, Lethbridge has 13 players who are in their first full campaign in the WHL. Cozens says he’s appreciated the opportunity to wear a letter for a young team.

“I think it’s a huge honor to be a leader of a team at 19. For me with such a young team, I just got to be the best leader I can, make sure guys know they can always talk to me, stuff like that. I just got to make sure leading on the ice, off the ice, everything like that is super important when you have such a young team.”

Cozens is not the first member of his family to don the Hurricane sweater. His older brother, Dylan, is in his sixth season in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators. Dylan was a star contributor for Lethbridge with back-to-back seasons with more than 80 points in 2019 and 2020. Dylan also served as a co-captain for the Hurricanes during his final season with the team alongside Ty Prefontaine.

NHL fans will be watching another Whitehorse product closely as the 2026 NHL Draft gets closer. Former Medicine Hat Tiger Gavin McKenna is projected to go first overall this summer and is spending the season with the Penn State Nittany Lions in the NCAA.

Cozens says his success along with Dylan and McKenna have been massive for the sport in Yukon.

“It’s awesome and a huge honor to represent such a great place. I couldn’t be happier to be where I’m from. It’s awesome that it’s getting recognition now with so many guys starting to come out of there. I think Dylan really broke it open for the Yukon. I think after him, a lot more guys started getting recognized. Now with Gavin, obviously, it’s been huge for the Yukon. There’s so much more interest in hockey now, obviously, with the WHL games happening there this preseason. That was huge for the community.”

The Hurricanes return to action when they welcome the Prince Albert Raiders to town on Wednesday night with puck drop at 7 p.m.