The Senators will be keeping Nick Cousins in the fold for one more year. In a deal first reported by Lalime’s Martian on Twitter and subsequently confirmed by Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link), Ottawa has signed Cousins to a one-year, $825K contract.
The 31-year-old had to wait until close to the start of training camp to get a contract last year, ultimately signing a one-year, $800K agreement with the Sens in late August. Now, he’ll forego testing the open market and will get a small raise for doing so.
Cousins played in 50 games for Ottawa this past season while also missing more than two months with a serious knee injury that had his availability for the playoffs in question but he was able to return late in the season. In those outings, Cousins collected six goals and nine assists along with 85 hits in a little under 12 minutes a night of playing time. In their first-round exit to Toronto, he was held off the scoresheet in five appearances.
A veteran of 642 career NHL outings during the regular season over 11 seasons, Cousins has bounced around, seeing time with seven different organizations. Instead of testing the market to see if he could get a bit more money, he has decided to stay put in a situation that works for both sides.
With the signing, Ottawa now has a little over $7MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. However, with both GM Steve Staios and owner Michael Andlauer cautioning that the team doesn’t intend to spend to the Upper Limit and a possible $2.75MM in bonuses on the books for Claude Giroux’s new deal, it’s unclear how much of that cap room is spendable at the moment although, at a minimum, they’ll have to add a depth forward or two to the roster in the coming days and weeks.
I would’ve been fine if he walked but I’ll take it for basically league minimum as the 12th/13th forward. He played his role well while in the lineup.