Ottawa Senators Sign Stanley Cup Champion Nick Cousins To One-Year Contract | Immediate Reaction

it's late August but the Ottawa Senators have made an NHL signing we'll get into who Nick cousins is and how does he fit in in this upcoming roster I'm Jake Sanderson I'm Tim schler and you're listening to the lockdown Senator podcast you're locked on Senators your daily podcast on the Ottawa Senators part of the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day welcome it's a bonus episode of Locked on SS I'm Ross Levitan alongside Brandon pillar we've got fresh haircuts both of us holy and we're excited to chat about an NHL signing Oney year $800,000 is what the Senators are giving Stanley Cup champion Nick cousins py your immediate reaction when you heard the news about an hour ago when our guy leims Martian was first to report well we know the streets don't miss he is merely a conduit of the streets preaching the good word getting those Scoops out there so we thank Liams Martian for that um my immediate reaction was was down then up uh immediately I was like oh man this is such a s signing especially he's from Belleville like I don't know about this and then Ross I don't know two three minutes later I was like you know what I'd rather have this guy on my team than have to play up against him especially on a division rival like if he would have stayed with Florida wouldn't have loved that and the S could get a little greasier so after some time thinking about it and sitting on it and doing a little uh prep I'm I'm okay with the signing Ross I would even say for 800k one year I like it Nick cousins is a Belleville native who's played for a handful of NHL teams over the course of the last decade started with Philly three seasons there moved on to Arizona then Montreal for one year veg Nashville and then the Florida Panthers so he's got 592 NHL games of experience that in and of itself is right up there among the most for depth players on the Ottawa Senators we know the fourth line is in flux we believe that Angus krook shank has a great shot to make that as a left Winger we know that Zach mcan's on a one-way contract as well but this to me just adds another wrinkle another um competition in training camp this is isn't a contract that can't be buried if he doesn't make the team or if he finds himself being somebody who actually hurts the team as we'll get into the type of player he is there's no doubt he's a rat I'm sure he wears that title proudly but some of the hits that this guy's throwing are like pretty egregious like pretty tough to watch and afterwards it's not like he's Chris Neil running through guys and then looking for who he's gonna fight he's looking for how he can get inside of his shoulder pads and turtle away so he can be a frustrating player I think he's a lot more Maxim lapier than he is a tough guy in the National Hockey League but he's certainly gonna make people pissed off to play against him and I think Ottawa frankly was missing that element in their game last year and years before yeah I would agree and I think I think Ross they even did uh you know like halfway through the year the league does a unanimous players poll I think they did a poll on dirtiest player and he might have won that maybe you can double uh fact check that for me but if not then it's unofficial that he is the dirtiest player left in the NHL but again I'll say it again I'd rather have him on my team than playing up against him especially um you know Zack mckuin was the Ottawa caters tough guy uh didn't exactly go well and I also have to agree with you Nick cousins is not your prototypical tough guy he's your greasy rat that you hope gets under the skin of opponents and maybe scores a goal here and there I mean or Ro I I sent this to you and you posted it and it's worth watching on Loop if you're a sense fan the last playoff goal that Nick cousins scored was an overtime winner not this playoffs the playoffs before but up against the Toronto Maple Leafs to knock them out of the playoffs so if you're a s fan we love watching Leaf killers and uh that's what he's done and he's a standing cup champ he played one game in the finals I'll be at a 5-1 loss but he played in the finals his name is on that 35 pound silver trophy so it's good to add that to the room that's hilarious that that's the one game he got into in the finals game six by the way if you're scoring at home it was on the road in Edmonton and to me that does make me a bit anxious a bit worried because the reason he wasn't in the lineup pillsy is they couldn't trust him not to take a dumb penalty a bad play where they're now on their heels and now they're looking at at killing another penalty against such an electric power play like Edmonton has so I mean he didn't take a penalty in that game he only played nine minutes but still it's just like I don't know this is kind of the risk you take with a rat Ross if you get you got to take the good with the bad with a player like that sometimes it's going to work and it's going to throw the other team off you hope the other other team Stars he pisses them off and then sometimes it's not going to work and the ref's like okay you've tried your little greasy bit here no one's biting for it I I'm going to start giving you penalties here so it it does happen he was a centerman early on in his career there was a year in Arizona where he took over 500 faceoffs but over the last number of years I mean his first year in Florida he took 150 faceoffs was right around 49% but last year only took 32 so he's a guy who I think as his career has unfolded he's now 32 he's 31 31 years old June birthday um in Belleville as I mentioned so this is also kind of like hey look he gets the guaranteed contract and at this point in the offseason we're looking at more PTO territory than anything else so he gets that guaranteed 800,000 near league minimum contract but with that if he goes on waivers and doesn't get claimed maybe he's like oh at least that can be close to home play for his hometown team uh footy was telling us his dad's a pretty well-known name in the Belleville Community I think he was the city's Minister of Finance if there's ministers for City politics not a not a politics guy I'll tell you that for free but what I what I do know is that I like my hockey teams with a little piss and vinegar so I don't mind this signing from that standpoint I just do worry that he could ultimately hurt the team with his Antics rather than help them it's going to be a tight RPP that he's gonna have to walk to stay in my good graces because if he's out there putting the team short-handed he's really kind of losing any value that he brings otherwise yeah and that's fair because I mean you look at points wise his career high is 27 uh now that wasn't last year the year before so at least it's recent and Ross he's got a lot of playoff experience 63 playoff games like this guy has the experience he's in his 30s and it's interesting too to look at his contract history like he signed one year one million well two years at at a million in Arizona one year one million Montreal one year 1 million Vegas then he gets three million for two years with Nashville and then 2.2 with Florida now he's coming in on a one-year 800k so he's taking a significant you talked about us having haircuts on this show Nick cousins is taking a significant haircut especially Ross going from Nashville and Florida Tax friendly states to now taking a huge pay cut and coming up to Ottawa this is um it definitely seems like this was a move he's like I don't want to go on a PTO I'll sign this and here we are Nick cousins your newest Ottawa Senator so two videos you can watch if you want to become a nick Super Fan you can watch his goal that eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2023 playoffs so the Leafs finally got past the first round and then Nick cousins put them to bed shortly after you can also go back to a 2017 video where he fights Chris kunet of all people all right for more on how he fits into the Ottawa Senators Nick cousins that is we will discuss where we would Place him for opening day of training camp next you're listening to a bonus edition of locked on Senators your team every day today's bonus episode of the lockon Senators podcast is brought to you by our friends over at game time we love game time and they got a new feature called Game Time picks it makes getting tickets for your favorite Live Events even easier if you could believe it game time picks filters out the fluff to show you only the incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste waste your time searching through thousands of tickets you want to go through game time because you can have the Allin pricing if you turn on that feature you're going to know what the price of your ticket is without those nasty surprises when you get to check out Ross and I love the seat views you want to make sure that logo is facing the right way check out the seat view on the app lowest price guarantee you got to check out game time take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NHL for 20 bucks off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code locked on NHL for $20 off download game time today what time is it it's game time welcome back locked on Senators it is a bonus edition Thursday August 29th we've already recorded tomorrow's polarizing Ring of Honor so stay tuned for that we are going to draft the most polarizing players in Ottawa Senators history you think mck cousins would be on that list if we had the time hey next year it could be just that now the Ottawa Senators making the news official the quote from general manager Steve stos Nick gained a lot of valuable experience playing almost 600 games in the NHL and having played in the Stanley Cup finals in two straight Seasons he brings grit and tenacity to his game that adds to the competitive nature of our group the question is Mr Brandon pillar I'm gonna call you coach py now where do you start him day one of training camp Ross you know sometimes you throw me uh hard ball knuckle ball questions that I'm not able to hit out of the park but this is the easiest answer for me I think really there's no debate what line he's on he's this is a fourth line player uh I will have him on the wing like you mentioned he didn't play aot of Center or at least didn't take a lot of faceoffs last season but I think a left wing on the fourth line Ross I would almost say it's a lock like I would be surprised I know you mentioned Kooker but I I'll still say the same argument I think Kooker needs to be in a third line role to be used effectively like going from top six in Belleville to playing fourth line in the NHL is a tough tough transition not that I don't think Kooker can't do it but I just think signing a guy like Nick cousins to a one-way deal like that kind of solidify at the very least Ross he's going to be on the NHL roster the whole time maybe it's Plug and Play maybe he gets a couple games takes a game off that kind of thing but I wouldn't be surprised if we see Nick cousins for o let's play a game here over under Nick cousins NHL games I think setting it at 55 is fair I would even say closer to 60 who plays more NHL games Noah Gregor or Nick cousins next season injuries excluded of course I I think they're probably pretty similar I've got Noah Gregor kind of locked in as that fourth line center now I know we had talked a lot about Yan yenick but I just think uh the no Gregor signing is a guy that they want to see he's a little bit more two-way he's got a bit more speed um and he spent the last two years in the NHL so Ross I think the fourth line the issue is you start making lineups and then you say well I don't know if I want a fourth line full of lefties right that's what was happening to me I had yanek on that line as well that's a lefty so I started looking at righties that can join that line I'm looking at Nick cousins Noah Gregor and either this is two different scenarios Zach mckuin if you just want to get real greasy with it short term that could be a play or you want to add if you want a fourth line where you got the grease the defense and the offense toss Adam godette on that right wing those are kind of options I'm looking at here there's a few really greasy options for sure I think look and Nick cousins by all accounts seems like he's very well-liked in the room we talked about uh quite a bit how fans obviously have different views of him he kind of guy if if you're watching him kind of run around and he's got a few head shots under his belt I think he's he's got to have had a suspension or two over the years has to have there's no way the video I just watched of him being the dirtiest player in the league there's no way he didn't come clean with no suspensions on that video alone I'm not sure he's ever been suspended and in February he told the Miami Herold that he disagrees with the narrative that he's a dirty player so you like that that's tough that's a tough sell I mean I don't ask Eric ask Eric gab Branson about that one you see the one where he put his head into the boards yeah or zooker or uh he got into it with Matthews too like there was a lot of greasy moments look there's also a long history here I'm sure that Brady just picks up the phone to Matthew and say hey what's what's he been like the last couple years and and obviously sometimes those most hated players are the most well-liked in the room all David Pon we just went over this it's it's basically and look now the Ottawa Senators have a core where they've got Brady kachuck Ridley Greg Nick cousins who am I missing David P you just mentioned David Pon Tyler clevin the league hasn't even met the cage train fully yet yep there's going to be some Knights that get out of hand for the Ottawa Senators that's that's a hot maybe a simmering hot take at this point no that's that's fair and Ross I know we mentioned he was kind of in and out of the lineup last playoff run with the Panthers but the previous season the one where we talked about he scored that Big Goal he played 21 playoff games like and back to back Stanley Cup finals appearances like that say what you want but that is the type of experience the SS are looking for they get a 31-year-old Belleville native you get a guy with playoff experience and you get him at one year 800k like this these are the types of moves you make in late August and uh I I think I think it's a good fit on the ice in February the NHL pa players poll said which player would you like to punch in the face the most okay and that is where Nick cousins finished first the percent I don't have it here it's actually our friend Armando valz from locked on Florida Panthers the title of his episode apparently Nick cousins face is the one opposing players want to punch most I like it I like so go check out Armando's video there for more on on that but look like the Ottawa Senators got pushed around not only in certain games last year but against the Florida pan Panthers yes yeah oh if you can't beat them beat them yeah if you can't beat him beat him yeah um but that's that's the thing too Ross like the last thing we want is is Brady get mixed up in more fights because he feels like he has to be that guy now again Nick cousins not necessarily a fighter I totally understand that fter but if he can um how many fights last year do you think Nick cousins oh I don't know three three on the dot and I don't think he really wanted boom but what I'm saying he definitely didn't want the one with with G Branson no no but G Branson made sure he got it uh he fed him a couple times Well goody we know in Ottawa and G Branson could be in the mix for polarizing player albe at such a short stint we're doing our Ring of Honor tomorrow but um one thing goody can do is fight oh yeah yeah he's he's a tough guy um but uh where was oh yeah what at least what Nick cousins could do is hopefully divert some of that frustration and tension that leads to Boiling Points away from Brady kachaka is where I was going there yeah that's cool okay so I you gave your line I'll say that my fourth line I kind of like having cousins as the fourth line Center and I know that he hasn't taken a ton of faceoffs this year but I think for me he's going to be the fourth line Center don't you want someone with a little more defensive responsibility there no I think he's defensively responsible enough okay I I think enough and this is just a start obviously this is day one training camp we'll see how how the the chips fall and they should fall B based on Merit not by contract status especially when you have an owner that's clearly not going to be worried about paying a guy 800k in the miners we've seen a multitude of two-way contracts where guys are getting 400 $350,000 so I think that you're looking for me at least cousins Gregor and crook shank that's my fourth line mchan to me starts training camp on the fifth line and and kind of has to work his way into the mix um up there so out of those guys I mean Zach sta chuck could be a dark horse but to me it's like him and Halliday I almost want to see them with regular NHL guys at least day one training camp again to see if they can keep Pace with guys a little higher because you don't want a stap Chuck coming into camp and just being oh he's a fourth line guy you have higher hopes ultimately for St he's only played one more year in Belleville and he could do for another good top role in Belleville as well exactly so a lot of intrigue now with training camp less than two weeks away the Ottawa Senators addressing depth once again acquiring Nick cousins from free agency and looking for the free agent market and I had to take a look because I was like okay who else was out there why is Nick cousins the guy who the Senators are settling on here not a whole lot else especially for a fourth line role like Tyler Johnson's another guy he's 5 foot n like he's got the cup pedigree from his time with Tampa but he doesn't make a whole lot of sense were there any other names of free agents that you're like oh man I would have preferred them not forwards if we're talking about roster spots I still thought and and still think they're going to look at at the very least a PTO for a veteran uh defenseman but um no I kind of thought they were done with forward Ross and I kind of thought that they were going to try to leave a little space for your crook Shanks a stap Chucks hallidays yenik godets I mean there there's a lot of guys uh fighting for that uh any spots in Ottawa um so this was an interesting move but we'll see we'll see how it goes in Leu of final thoughts py I will ask you your final opinion to the Senators add another NHL body before training camp whether it's PTO or a legit contct okay yes I I think there's going to be a PTO for sure honestly I think you should bring a guy in on a PTO every year like why not see what he's got let everybody know hey you think spots are easy to get nope we're trying to bring in the right players we're trying to bring in players that want it and guys that come in on PTO they got chips on their shoulders they got something to prove they're like I don't understand why I didn't get a contract here I'm pissed off I'm going to show teams that I'm not riding off into the sunset and retiring yet so I I think it's a smart move to bring guys in on a PTO okay well we will find out soon will we get another Josh Bailey or maybe another Derek brard not in terms of position but in terms of guys who either come in and make an impression make the team get a contract or guys who are just in and out for a week or two my only problem with that PSY is like if you're going to give a guy preseason games like you're taking away an opportunity for certain prospects who maybe you want to see Oscar Pon in a preseason game or guys like that who are you know just getting their feet wet probably won't play games in the NHL this year but you kind of want them to get the taste of it and get the the pace all beat in preseason so that's the only thing I worry about about having guys there seven games though like you can make it work yeah that's fair okay well today was also pretty cool at the CTC certain season ticket holders were able to go and uh meet Travis Green he did a presentation syvan St Lon Ian Mendes were both there so I I like that that they're doing these these different events and our guy Kevin Lee bring back Lee posted that the food was awesome they really took care of everyone s a leader was there and uh py I don't know if Ian asked this question if so we might need some royalties uh Travis Green was asked what the X Factor is for his team this year okay very original question we ask all of our citizens that's a great question not gonna lie great question y you know what he says it is it's gonna be some politically correct answer not one player the hunger to win among the players and their willingness to look in the mirror hey I I like that I like that and that's the way you got to go if you're the head coach you don't want to single out guys and leave guys out but yeah that's that's the mindset Travis screen has and that's the mindset this team needs so I'm down should we redecorate our Studios and just have mirrors everywhere mirrors yeah we're not afraid we're willing to look in the mirror yeah we'll do it I mean we're looking in mirrors right now looking at ourselves on the screen uh so Travis Green we are mirror looking guys uh and I don't know about you Ross but I could eat I'm usually hungry yeah usually don't get me started go look at my Twitter for door Dash's a inability to bring my food yesterday I'm starving let's get this bread and hopefully some things on it hope you enjoyed this bonus lock on Senators we will be back with episode 1112 tomorrow Ring of Honor Nick Spence joins us the most polarizing senators in franchise history let us know in the comments below do you like the move do you hate it why all that and more locked on Senators we are nearing season six of the show for today we say goodbye for Brandon pillar I'm Ross Levitan this has been a bonus edition of the lock on Senators podcast your team every day