Stu Cowan: Former Canadien Nick Cousins finds his area of interest with Panthers

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When Michel Therrien was teaching the Canadiens he typically stated that gamers want discover a chair that matches them to stay within the NHL.

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It was a superb line as a result of there are various kinds of chairs on a workforce — particularly with the NHL wage cap.

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Former Canadien Nick Cousins is an ideal instance of that and now he’s filling an necessary chair with the Florida Panthers, enjoying left wing on the second line with Sam Bennett at centre and Matthew Tkachuk on proper wing.

Cousins is filling that chair with a salary-cap hit of solely US$1.1 million within the first 12 months of a two-year, US$2.2-million contract he signed final summer season. His two linemates have a mixed salary-cap hit of US$13.925 million, with Tkachuk incomes US$9.5 million and Bennett US$4.425 million.

In 79 regular-season video games, Cousins had 9-18-27 totals and he has 1-4-5 totals in 11 playoff video games. The Panthers can advance to the Japanese Convention last with a win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Sport 5 of their playoff sequence Friday (7 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports activities).

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The 29-year-old Cousins is in his ninth NHL season after being chosen by the Philadelphia Flyers within the third spherical (68th total) of the 2011 draft. The Panthers are his sixth NHL workforce after stints with the Flyers, Arizona Coyotes, Nashville Predators, Canadiens and Vegas Golden Knights.

The Canadiens signed Cousins as a free agent in the summertime of 2019, giving him a one-year, US$1-million contract. Essentially the most he has ever earned in a season is US$1.5 million when he was with the Predators. Cousins has stayed within the NHL by filling completely different chairs with completely different groups and coaches know what they’re going to get from him.

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“He simply type of matches right into a bunch of various conditions,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice informed The Hockey Information final month. “He’s obtained type of an uncommon recreation. He’s a little bit of a gritty fourth-line man, however he’s obtained some fingers on him. There’s some ability there that permits him to mix into completely different traces and every place.”

Like all gamers who make it to the NHL, Cousins has ability. Whereas enjoying with the Quinte Purple Devils U-16 Triple-A workforce in 2008-09, Cousins had 72-67-139 totals in 71 video games. Throughout his final season of junior with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds in 2012-13, he had 27-76-103 totals in 64 video games.

Not each participant can regulate from being an offensive star in midget and junior to being a task participant within the NHL. Former Canadiens captain Man Carbonneau is a basic instance of a participant who might. Throughout his final season of junior with the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Saguenéens, Carbonneau had 72-110-182 totals in 72 video games. Carbonneau by no means scored greater than 26 targets throughout his 19 seasons within the NHL, however made it to the Corridor of Fame as a two-way centreman, successful the Selke Trophy 3 times because the league’s finest defensive ahead.

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The Canadiens signed Cousins shortly after that they had traded Andrew Shaw to the Chicago Blackhawks, hoping he might fill an identical function.

“He’s confirmed that he can play a bit of bit like a Shawzy,” former Canadiens head coach Claude Julien stated on the time. “He has obtained a bit of little bit of jam in his recreation and that persona that may get mad or get below (the opposition’s) pores and skin or stuff like that.”

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Cousins solely spent one season with the Canadiens, posting 9-13-22 totals in 58 video games earlier than being dealt to the Golden Knights on the NHL commerce deadline in change for a fourth-round decide on the 2021 NHL Draft that was later traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Cousins reached a milestone this season when he performed in his five hundredth NHL recreation, one thing he’s very happy with.

“I feel some guys actually don’t actually care about issues like video games performed, however for me it’s necessary,” Cousins wrote in a postcard to Panthers followers on the workforce’s web site. “I’m nonetheless comparatively younger on this league. I nonetheless really feel actually good and that I’ve a variety of hockey left in me. I imply, 500 video games is one thing that I’ve been wanting ahead to not solely this 12 months, however even going again to final 12 months. It’s a giant quantity and one thing that I’m happy with.

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“It’s type of cliché, however the one bit of recommendation that’s actually caught with me all through my profession and helped me get thus far is to simply management what you’ll be able to management,” he added. “That’s all you’ll be able to deal with. There’s so many issues that occur which you could’t management, so you’ll be able to’t fear about all of that. All that I can fear about is my work ethic, my angle and my strategy to each day. It’s coming into the rink with a smile on my face and never worrying concerning the issues you’ll be able to’t management. I feel that’s type of caught with me endlessly, particularly coming into the league once I was making an attempt to determine myself as a participant. It’s simply placing your head down and going to work.”

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