Senators Sign Nick Cousins To Two-Year Deal

The Ottawa Senators are keeping some grit in their lineup. Yesterday evening, Brent Wallace of Coming In Hot reported that the Senators had agreed to a two-year deal with depth forward Nick Cousins. Shortly thereafter, the team at PuckPedia confirmed that it was a two-year, $3.175MM agreement, with Cousins earning $1.5MM in the first year and $1.675MM in the second year.

Cousins, 32, has been playing with Ottawa for the last two years. After winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in 2024, the Belleville, ON native has remained in Canada’s capital on a pair of one-year contracts. Despite only being a two-year agreement, it’s the largest dollar amount that Cousins has ever signed for throughout his 12-year career.

By all accounts, he has been exactly what the Senators needed in their bottom-six. Throughout the past two years, Cousins has registered 15 goals and 38 points in 131 games with a +7 rating, averaging 11:36 of ice time. Although he’s no longer relied upon in the faceoff dot, Cousins still brings value by being a physical winger and getting under the opponent’s skin as much as he can.

He is also a defensively sound forward, averaging a 51.6% CorsiFor and 91.7% on-ice SV% at even strength in 732 career games. Essentially, even on the wrong side of 30, Cousins is a player the Senators have been able to comfortably place in their bottom-six and not have to worry about. Assuming he spends the life of the contract with the team, he’ll remain with the Senators through the 2027-28 season and become an unrestricted free agent at 34 years old.