[Music] so as always we have to go out there and start this video with a disclaimer if this guy gets signed by some other team then this video doesn't make any sense I'm recording it on the night of August 11th it will be published a few hours later on the 12th so if this video is up and the player has already signed then you can disregard everything that we're going to be talking about to today let's go over to an article published on dailyfaceoff.com by Hunter cther who went out there and wrote yesterday about the top five NHL UFA centers that are still available pretty simple prompt pretty simple article and what I wanted to do was go over one of the names highlighted on this list because this name was actually discussed on another article in relation to the Toronto Maple Leafs it's kind of a convoluted way to start out a video but I wanted to go out there and talk about Nick cousins the first name on this daily Faceoff list who recently checked off the almighty Stanley Cup champion box even though he was a healthy scratch for half of the Florida Panthers games the 32-year-old took a step back last season in terms of production only producing seven goals in 15 points in 69 regular season games the lowest total since his rookie season in 20156 cousins has never never average more than 13 minutes per game in his career so if you're adding him it's as a fourth liner or as a 13th forward the former Sue Greyhound has a reputation as someone who's known to cross the line of physical and dirty and provide teams with a physical element that they may lack now Nick cousins is a name that we are very obviously including in this video conversation for a reason 31 years old smallish guy 51 192 and he racks up the controversy like crazy this was a guy who I'd say in 2023 2024 became probably the biggest problem than he's ever been in any part of his NHL career up to this point he had played with the Philadelphia Flyers Arizona Coyotes Canadians golden knights Nashville Predators and of course the Florida Panthers last year in 2223 he had 27 points this year he had 15 so he did decline in points but it should be noted that his Stanley Cup Championship pass in 2023 2024 compliments a very long run of other Playoff success that he had had in 2020 with the Vegas golden knights he had 17 games played in the playoffs in 2023 with the Florida Panthers he of course lost in the finals in 21 games played so this is a guy who not only provides a big physical Edge and he will probably get into a lot of curles that will cause many people to believe he should be suspended yeah I'm just kind of saying it how it is don't go out there and shoot the messenger man that's what we had seen after Nick cousins and his Antics from last season but not only does he bring that physical Edge but he also brings a ton of playoff experience and with this in mind I wanted to go out there to this article on Maple leaf.com going over how the map Leafs could Target the League's most hated Center to fill their third line position this article which will also be linked in the description was written by Ryan smitham and goes out there and says this the Toronto M beliefs need a third line Center and there are a handful of free agents available that could fill that void including Nick cousins mainly remembered by Leafs Nation as the one that eliminated the Maple Leafs in the second round in the 2023 playoffs Nick cousins is widely known as one of the NHL's most disliked players that's due to the fact that he often crosses the line and then proceeds to turtle or disengage when his teammates step in make no mistake about it the agitation he brings is something the Leaf's lineup could still need after the departure of Tyler bruzi cousins can fill that role adequately although his offensive numbers dipped last season in 23 24 we saw the 32-year-old only produce 15 points and yeah we had already talked about that in the earlier part of the video and so when it comes to Nick cousins potentially being given this kind of a role the article already said that he's never really averaged more than 13 minutes of ice time per game and while I don't want to say that a third line Center role is going to be demanding significantly more than that it's not going to be demanding like 20 minutes a night of course it is enough of an increase I would say in a third line role to maybe question whether or not cousins would be the appropriate guy to be there and furthermore you could debate whether or not that aspect of his game which is so important and so valuable it's the main reason you're getting cousins is because he's a pest and because he's a Workhorse and because he's got all of these getting under your skin qualities you could ask the question as well as to whether or not that actually is much of a Leaf's need in 2024 2025 if you head over to the Toronto map beliefs I mean you think about some of the guys they already have Ryan Reeves Matthew n these guys can provide snarl Max DOI can be a little bit nasty when he needs to be is there a huge need for an extra guy to add some ooms to your physicality like Nick cousins and furthermore what are the options with the lineup here the article on daily face off or not article but the entire set of lines here on daily the face off says n Matthews and Marner is your first line if you wanted to switch things around maybe have DOI playing the first line instead how do you swap everybody else around there what does the center core look like I think there is a little bit of tinkering that you would have to do to make kagy like cousins fit into the line up but if you really wanted to force it let's say have DOI onto the Wing N to the second line move Bobby McMahon a line down scratch another Winger and then put cousins in as a third line C I actually don't think that's that bad of an idea in fact if you wanted to theoretically talk about roles Ryan Reeves is a guy who is supposed to provide similar elements as to Nick cousins that snarl that physicality and of course getting under the opponent's skin while Reeves will go out there and actually fight guys and not Tower away in the bottom in a turtle position like Nick cousins might do once in a while there still is a replacement of that role if you were to say okay let's get rid of Reeves let's give him the Press Box Roll and then swap some forwards around move doy up to the the first line move KN down and then have another spot on Center opened up for a guy like cousins it would be a pretty interesting thought process in my opinion especially if you're also evaluating that playoff experience I mean a lot of the guys that the Toronto Maple Le have added over the years Brad trilling has really put an emphasis on getting that playoff exposure even with some of these extra guys I mean oel Stanley Cup champion Nick cousins would be a Stanley Cup champion Chris tan went to the third round this previous year and then the de ated list of achievements from guys that are already on the team Ryan Reeves of course was a Stanley Cup finalist with the Vegas golden knights the first time they went to the finals not the second time so is Nick cousins the guy that you think should be added on to this roster in fact if you wanted to switch things around even further get rid of somebody else and leave Ryan Reeves in the lineup have cousins and Reeves play together that would be a bash Bros like Duo it doesn't even matter who else is on that final Winger spot just have Reeves and cousins go out there every time you're hemmed into your own Zone you need to rough up some guys a little bit and they can do the roughing up they can hit they can make illegal checks to the Head they can do whatever it is you need them to do of course I'm not going to go out there and encourage illegal checks to the head it's just kind of what Nick cousins may find himself doing once in a while and I can't think you can say that I'm wrong there but either way if you're a Toronto map polies fan let me know your thoughts in the comment section below how do you feel about the idea of Nick cousins one of the NHL's most hated players finding himself into Toronto for 2425 one more time for the back there if this guy ends up signing a contract before this video is released on YouTube then I will eat my hat it is a Monday so there actually no I'm not going to eat my hat it's actually possible that it does sign so I don't want to go out there and give any guarantees but it is Monday so things might change who really knows let me know your thoughts in the comment section below about this idea anyway I hope you enjoyed this vsh as99 and bye [Music] [Music]