My series of Ottawa Senators report cards continues today, after looking at Mark Stone yesterday, we go to the other extreme and look a defenseman Jared Cowen.
PRE-SEASON EXPECTATION
The maturing Jared Cowen was expected to make great strides this season, his 4th in the NHL. WIth a definite opening in the Senators top 4, he had the size, pedigree and a good rookie season to draw from, despite the fact that injuries had slowed his development. The Senators and their fans weren't exactly sure what they had going into the season from the then 23, now 24 year old blueliner.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
The season got off to a dreadful start, with Cowen shouldering a lot of the blame for the season-opening loss to the Predators, whether fairly or unfairly. With Marc Methot's injury, Cowen was given the first crack at playing with Erik Karlsson on the top pair, something that he wasn't ready for and a role he certainly didn't look comfortable in.
He was then moved to the second pair alongside Cocy Ceci, and for all intents and purposes he didn't play badly in that role. They formed a decent second pair with Ceci providing the puck moving and Cowen being the muscle. Still, fans continued to point out and magnify every mistake Cowen made, and even coach Paul MacLean got tired of giving him chances, because he wasn't a young defenseman any more and didn't have the benefit of being able to learn from his mistakes on the job. Cowen sat out a stretch as a healthy scratch.
Cowen developed a sports hernia at some point in the season, and played just one game after March 17th, missing the majority of the playoff run. Whether that was due to injury or coach's decision, suffice to say that it wasn't a banner season for the big blueliner.
THE HARD STATS
THE FANCY STATS
There are so many ways to present advanced statistics that there could be a book written on each player. For this I will find a pretty comparable player on each team in the Atlantic Division, taking into account role and (wherever possible) age, and see where the Senators player in question stacks up.
So when you compare apples to apples, Cowen's numbers don't look all that bad. He is counted on more defensively, and does an adequate job of limiting scoring chances.
THE "KEY" STATS
It is tough to find anything that really stands out in the positive. His shooting percentage was 2nd to Karlsson among defensemen, but that really means with 3 goals he didn't shoot enough.
The team-worst -11 sticks out like a sore thumb.
FUTURE OUTLOOK
The future is certainly cloudy for Cowen. While I wrote a week or so ago that it is too early to give up on a defenseman with the attributes Cowen could bring, (echoing Bryan Murray's comments from the post-season press conference) that time is drawing near.
His problem is, that when he makes a mistake it seems like it always ends up in a red light going on. Perhaps no defenseman gets bailed out by his goalie less than Cowen, but that is just my opinion. Mistakes are often covered by big saves, but it seems he has a black cloud over his head that follows him around.
This is a player who has played just 212 games in 4 seasons due primarily to injury, so he has missed the equivalent of a season and a half. Those were important development years and he certainly is behind in the learning curve. That being said, there are plenty of defensemen who are late bloomers and I think a healthy Cowen certainly has a place in the lineup. Whether that is a place that correlates with his salary ($3.7M real, $3.1M cap hit) is another question, and one that may or may not be answered with Cowen in a Senators uniform.
While the expectations were probably too high, he didn't come close to meeting them this season. He had some ups and more downs, but wasn't nearly consistent enough. I personally like his game when he is on it, and he can give the Senators a hybrid presence they don't really have elsewhere. Hopefully injuries haven't completely derailed his career, because he will probably never be as mobile as he was when he was entering his draft year, but at his top health he can still be a serviceable everyday defenseman. I just don't know if he has the demeanor to shoulder being the fans' prime target when things aren't going well, and he might be better off getting a fresh start somewhere else.
GRADE: While I like him, and I think he takes way more than his share of the blame when things go wrong, for this season I would have to give Jared Cowen a big
D and in this case that doesn't just stand for defense.
Who do I have for Monday's randomly selected report card? Today's hint: I will stick near the bottom of the class, and a player that might be destined for remedial classes.
If you missed it, check out prior Report Cards:
May 7 - Mark Stone 
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