Player hints at rift between himself and team's coaching staff.

There appears to be a growing disconnect between Jared Cowen and his team's coaching staff.

The Ottawa Senators defenseman is in his sixth season with the team, but has been somewhat shunned by the team in recent seasons. Now Cowen has come out and said that he is not being afforded much help in working to improve his standing with the Sens'. He also stated he is not particularly interested in what his GM has to say about him or his play.

Cowen was the recipient of open criticism from GM Bryan Murray Wednesday for his early-season play, says he’s not focused on Murray’s comments.

“I don’t hear it because I don’t pay attention to that stuff because it doesn’t really matter,” said Cowen, who will be a healthy scratch for Thursday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“I’m sure he could say the same thing about a lot of guys, so I’m not going to take it too personal.”

According to Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen, the 6-5, 238-pound defenceman claims he's had no direct one-on-one talks with anyone on the coaching staff as to what aspects of his game the team wants him to improve on.

The former 9th overall pick admitted he's having some playing troubles this season, but attributed his issues to being in and out of the Senators' lineup.

He has three assists and a plus-3 rating in 16 appearances.

It appears that Cowen may want out of Ottawa sooner rather than later. Defenseman are coveted in the NHL and if the Sens' are done with Cowen, they could probably find a taker for him.

[pub]