Jared Cowen a Trade Target, but Senators unlikely to deal.

Much like Colin Greening, Jared Cowen has had trouble finding ice time of late. Jared Cowen carries a salary of $3 100 000 for the next 4 years, and as a 23-year-old who once dominated Junior hockey it would be tough for Ottawa to trade him.

Reading Bruce Garrioch’s Saturday piece in the Ottawa Sun revealed this little excerpt.

"Senators GM Bryan Murray has had several calls on Cowen because the club has eight defencemen on the roster. At this juncture, the Senators don’t want to deal the 23-year-old Cowen.MacLean believes Cowen needs to get his act together because he has enough experience that he shouldn’t be given the chance to play through his struggles like he would have been before.“He has to work on his game. A young player lots of times you keep in the lineup and say it’s growing pains, it’s growing pains and you keep him in,” said MacLean.Via Bruce Garrioch – Ottawa Sun"

Mar 22, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Ottawa Senators defenseman Jared Cowen (2) skates against the Dallas Stars during the game at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeated the Senators 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

It is not surprising to see that Bryan Murray has received many calls on Jared Cowen. With his value at what is believed to be an all-time low, you can’t blame other GM’s who are trying to scoop a young d-man for cheap.

He’s struggled, there’s no question. But in a NHL where defence is an expensive commodity, Cowen will gain interest by others (for a cheap price) just based on potential. That’s why Murray is sticking to his guns, and not trading Jared Cowen. In the case where Cowen turns his game around, the Senators still have a potential Top 4 6foot5 defenseman.

Trading Cowen for scraps may not be the brightest idea at this point in time, as rolling the dice on Cowen could pay off greater than the return Cowen will bring you.

On a direct note from Coach MacLean, he gave reasoning as to why Cowen has had trouble slotting in the lineup.

"“He has to work on his game. A young player lots of times you keep in the lineup and say it’s growing pains, it’s growing pains and you keep him in, we’ve done that for Jared in the past.Now you’re not a young player anymore so we need to have you work on things, specific things, that are going to make you a better player, not only down the road, but for today. That’s the process.You’re not a young player anymore so you don’t get to play through it, you have to be better than the guy that’s out there. You’ve got to earn your way.”Paul MacLean – Via Sens TV"

What I find interesting here is that MacLean refers to Jared as no longer a young player. I just find that curious as in any other case, a 23-year-old would be referred to as a young player.

As a guy who has gone through a serious surgery and has 160 NHL games under his belt, maybe he’s not so young anymore and it’s time to kick it up a notch. That is what has appeared to happen.

Nothing is imminent on the Cowen trade front, but I think Bob McKenzie put it best.

"“It’s the NHL, you can’t wait forever and ever for someone to get better”  – Bob Mckenzie on TSN 1200, Oct 16th."