OTTAWA - Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray announced today that the club has signed defenceman Jared Cowen to an entry-level contract.

Cowen, 19, was the Senators’ first-round pick (ninth overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. A native of Allan, Sask., Cowen is in the midst of his third full season with the Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs and has recorded 17 goals, 43 assists and 153 penalty minutes in 161 career games. He has also added one goal and four assists in 27 playoff contests.

The 6-5, 215-pound defenceman earned a silver medal with Team Canada at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, which was held in Regina and Saskatoon. He appeared in six games for Canada recording one assist and two penalty minutes while concluding the tournament with a plus-4 rating.

Cowen was also a member of Team WHL in the 2009 SUBWAY Super Series and played in one game against Russia, recording one assist and two penalty minutes in a 4-2 win last Nov. 25 in Victoria.