Jared Cowen will be joining his teammates at Ottawa Senators training camp in short order.
Cowen, a restricted free agent who missed the start of camp, agreed to terms on a four-year contract Saturday, the team announced. The deal carries an average annual value of $3.1 million.
"You go through a hard negotiation and things are said, but we obviously love this guy as a player, as a person; he's what we want," assistant general manager Tim Murray told the team's website. "He's kind of a poster boy of what we want here. He works extremely hard, he's low-maintenance, he plays hard, he competes, we love him as a player. I'm just happy it's over and I hope he's as happy as we are."
The 22-year-old missed most of the 2012-13 season because of a hip injury he sustained playing for Binghamton of the American Hockey League during the lockout. Cowen had five goals, 17 points and logged nearly 19 minutes per game playing all 82 as a rookie in 2011-12.
He will report to camp likely as Ottawa's No. 3 defenseman in 2013-14, anchoring a pairing behind Erik Karlsson and Marc Methot.
"What he's missed so far ... is he's missed his medical and a couple of practices, and with some players you might be concerned, but I know what Jared is doing at home," Murray said. "He's working as hard at home by himself as he would be here with his teammates. He's going to come in here, I believe, and not miss a beat.
"Again, he does everything right so I'm not concerned about the three or four days he has missed."
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