Defender Jared Cowen will have his grievance hearing heard on October 19th. Cowen is grieving the Toronto Maple Leafs buy out from last July. Cowen spent the first five years of his NHL career with the Ottawa Senators before being moved at the deadline to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a deal for Dion Phaneuf.
Quick break for bit of news: Jared Cowen's grievance hearing with independent arbitrator is set for Oct. 19. Cowen grieving his TOR buyout.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) September 28, 2016
Jared Cowen Grievance Date Set
Jared Cowen was put on waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs early this off-season for the purposes of being bought out. Cowen’s contract had a clause that provided the Maple Leafs with $650,000 of cap space for the 2016-2017 season. Cowen is grieving the buyout, claiming that he was injured at the time. According to the NHL CBA injured players can not be bought out. The Leafs are stating that Cowen was not injured.
Career to Date
Drafted 9th overall in the 2009 NHL Draft, Cowen was advertised as a hulking old-school defenseman capable of bullying opponents off the puck and providing a strong net-front presence, but due to a knee injury suffered in junior, Cowen didn’t realize his full potential with the Senators. Over his five seasons with the club he accumulated 46 points and 174 penalty minutes in 249 games. His health was always a question mark, with fans and management alike wondering if Cowen would fully recover from his injury – the 6’5 defenseman played more than 70 games just once.
A forgettable 2015 campaign saw Cowen play just 37 games, and his possession numbers were some of the worst in the NHL, posting a 42.5 raw CF% (5th worst among defenseman with at least 300 minutes played), and a -5.3 RelCF% (12th worst among defenders with minimum 300 minutes played), both career lows.
Prior to being bought out by the Maple Leafs, he was slated to make $4.5 million in the 2016-2017 season, but will need to take a healthy pay-cut if he wants to prove that he can make a place for himself in the NHL. Although Cowen possesses the physical attributes needed to succeed, his decision making is questionable and his poor skating often gets him into trouble. On top of that he’s repeatedly shown an unwillingness to accept responsibility for mistakes – after being called out for his poor play by Sens general manager Bryan Murray in November of last season, Cowen told local media “I don’t hear it. I don’t pay attention to that stuff because it doesn’t really matter.”
A fixer-upper, he could potentially become the defenseman he was advertised as in 2009, but at 25-years-old he can’t afford to ignore his coaches any longer.
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