NHL Draft: Ottawa Senators Select Jared Cowen

by DarrenM on Jun 26, 2009 8:35 PM EDT

With the ninth overall pick, the Ottawa Senators have selected defenseman Jared Cowen of the Spokane Chiefs.

The official Ottawa Senators page has a recap here.

The fact that Cowen was available at #9 is a bit of a shocker, but is owed mostly to a serious knee injury he suffered at the end of January. Cowen had surgery on his knee in February, and then sat out the rest of the season. Prior to his injury, he was ranked as a projected #4 pick by the International Scouting Service. The fact that he was still a consensus top-ten pick coming into the draft, despite missing a huge chunk of his draft year, is a testament to how good the kid is. It also doesn't hurt that he was a big part of the Chief's Memorial Cup win in his rookie season.

Not only is he good, he's also big. Like, really, really big. Cowen is listed at 6'5", 220 lbs, and should provide a very strong presence on the Sens' blue line in years to come.

NHL Director of Central Scouting E.J. McGuire:

Jared Cowen made his name last year as a Memorial Cup winning member of the Spokane Chiefs and the comparisons that were thrown around at that time were that of Zdeno Chara. Physically he looks big, strong and rangy. Offensively he has that kind of contribution and if he, despite the pressure that we are putting on him, blossoms into half the player that Chara he is going to be a solid NHL player for years to come.

I don't know about you, but I've felt for the past few years that we could use a guy like Chara...

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I'm excited about this pick.

I think Cowen and Wiercioch would make a heck of a pairing, although it won’t be for a few seasons.

www.silversevensens.com

by Peter Raaymakers on Jun 27, 2009 11:29 AM EDT reply actions

Definitely a great pick

Coming into the draft, Cowen was the guy I wanted but I didn’t think he would make it to #9.

This is a guy who was ranked at #4 earlier and only fell because of his injury, which apparently won’t be a problem. It also balances out well with Karlsson from last year. Now we have both a great offensive D-man and and a very solid defensive D-man for the future. Now if only we could find some good forwards….

I think Cowen will be a full-time roster player in 2010-11.

by Sensfan on Jun 27, 2009 1:45 PM EDT reply actions

I really did not think Cowen would fall to us, but I am so happy he did. We could use a big presence like him on the back end, and I have a feeling he’ll be a phenomenal player for us someday.

by DarrenM on Jun 27, 2009 1:59 PM EDT reply actions