Jared Cowen Autograph Card

Two-time World Juniors silver medalist, Memorial Cup champion, Calder Cup champion.

Then an up-and-down six seasons in the Ottawa Senators organization, the way most young defensemen spend their time learning their craft.

That was the career trajectory of Jared Cowen, the ninth-overall draft pick of 2009, until February 9th, 2016, when he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, with Colin Greening, Milan Michalek, Tobias Lindberg and a second-round draft pick, for Dion Phaneuf, Matt Frattin, Ryan Rupert, Casey Bailey and Cody Donahey.

Cowen hasn't played since that season - heck, he never even played a game for the Leafs. Instead, they realized he was playing through an injury and bought him out, a move that is against the rules of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement that the NHL let slide because it's the Leafs and their GM at the time was Lou Lamoriello, and the Leafs need to be good for Canadian ratings to be good, revenue to flow in, and Lamoriello was supposed to bring them a much-needed Stanley Cup, like Dave Nonis before him, and Brian Burke before him, and John Ferguson Jr. before him, and Pat Quinn before him, and Ken Dryden before him, and Cliff Fletcher before that.

Wow, that's a lot of GMs since the 1990s. I wonder how long they've been without a Cup for, must be a while. I guess that's what you get when you're better at managing "assets" than "players".

That being said, Cowen did get a look at the Colorado Avalanche's camp the following pre-season, but he didn't make it very far. My guess is he's still suffering from all the injuries he fought through.

Here he is from better days, sporting Team Canada's white (home) uniform, on card #108 from Upper Deck's 2013-14 Team Canada collection:

He signed it in blue sharpie in 2014-15, adding his number (2) at the end.

Jared Cowen: 2 Autographed Cards

2016 hasn't been kind to Jared Cowen...

First he dealt with some injury troubles, then the Ottawa Senators sent him to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the Dion Phaneuf trade, and now he's lost his arbitration hearing against the Leafs, meaning he is now a free agent after having been bought out, despite said buyout happening while he was injured.

Though he has yet to hit his prime - some defensemen only hit it around the age of 26, and the bigger ones tend to take longer as they grow into their bodies, and Cowen's 6'5" and 230 pounds - and still young at 25 years old, he's already been bitten by the injury bug and has now also been bought out and traded, meaning two teams have given up on him, none of them Stanley Cup contenders.

It may prove difficult for him to score another contract that pays in the $3.5M range for the next couple of years, despite being a former first round draft pick (9th overall, 2009).

Maybe the Montréal Canadiens should give him a try; he certainly looks good in their colour pattern, as can be attested by card #71 from In The Game's 2009-10 Heroes And Prospects set, showing him wearing the Spokane Chiefs' red (away) uniform, and sporting the captain's "C" to boot:

But I prefer the Sens' alternate uniform, the "Black O" throwback, as seen on card #80 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee set:

He signed both cards in blue sharpie with his jersey number (2) tagged at the end.

Jared Cowen: 2 Autographed Custom BG Cards

A few years ago, a very friendly trader/collector from Calgary with an extensive Wayne Gretzky collection, KC, sent me a hockey puck signed by Jared Cowen (I don't remember why, probably through one of our many trades), before taking some time out from blogging/posting; unfortunately, I never received it, but I don't doubt for a second that he sent it.

It was at that time that I started following Cowen's career more closely, as I'd only been aware of the giant defenseman through his suiting up for Team Canada at various minor-league competitions, such as his gold- and bronze-winning turns on the U-17 teams in 2008, and his silver medals at the 2010 and 2011 World Juniors, the latter as an alternate captain.

The Ottawa Senators' 9th-overall first round pick in 2009, Cowen now towers at 6'5'' and 230 pounds, which - in my opinion - is the main reason why he was suspended for a hit to the head of the Florida Panthers' Jussi Jokinen; he would have had to get down on his knees to hit him in the chest, the type of move that cost the Cats' Dmitri Kulikov a few games recently himself.

There's something to be said about all these giants getting drafted on defense and how they are sometimes at a disadvantage when it comes to hitting now that the NHL is cracking down on hits to the head to save face for decades of not doing enough to protect players from concussion-related issues. However, with his skill set - good foot speed, a good first pass, the ability to complete checks and extremely sound positioning, particularly at such a young age - he was a no-brainer to be chosen at his rank.

If he could only improve his stick-handling and decision-making with the puck when skating towards opponents (rather than, say, getting rid of the puck along the boards), he could actually develop into more than the #4-D he already is.

He's a nice building block for the Sens, having captained the WHL's Spokane Chiefs and having won the Calder Cup with the Binghamton Senators.

I picked up these two custom cards from Ottawa-area collector BG on Ebay a few years ago, from their 2010-11 Hot Prospects set (and Future Watch sub-set), both signed in blue sharpie and showing him having just been drafted:

The more I think about it, however, the more I think custom cards should find their own sub-set names rather than lift them from major manufacturers - particularly two different ones, as seen here.