The Florida Panthers continue to pad their forward depth.
After a busy day on the free agent market to this point, the Panthers made another splash late on Wednesday afternoon, agreeing to terms with forward Nick Cousins on a two-year contract worth an average annual value of $1.1 million.
Cousins spent the past two seasons in the Nashville Predators organization, racking up 12 goals and 40 points in 120 games during his tenure in Music City while logging just under 13 minutes in ice time per night. The 29-year-old has a career-high of 12 goals and 27 points and projects as a bottom-six winger who can provide physicality and just a smidge of offense in sheltered usage.
After losing Mason Marchment and Claude Giroux on the same day, the Panthers are clearly in the process of scouring the market for bodies to replace them, and are now betting on Cousins as a decent depth add.
If it works out, great! Cousins will be a fun bargain add at a reasonable price. And if he flops, the Panthers can simply hide Cousins in the AHL with no penalty left on their cap, therein reducing any risk attached to the signing.
Stay tuned, folks. The day is far from over.
