The most hated man in the NHL is still unsigned.

We are almost a full month into free agency in the National Hockey League and most teams around the league have already put the final touches on their roster, leaving relatively few openings around the league for players still hoping to secure an NHL contract for next season.

One of those players just so happens to be arguably the most hated man in the entire NHL, and you have to wonder if his reputation may be damaging his chances of finding a home in an NHL team's locker room.

That man is of course none other than Florida Panthers forward Nick Cousins, a player that has rapidly garnered one of the more unfavorable reputations in the league both when it comes to fans as well as his fellow players.

Despite the fact that he was crowned Stanley Cup champion as a member of the Florida Panthers this summer, Cousins has been unable to secure a contract and with roughly 8 weeks left until the start of NHL training camp you have to wonder if he will find one at all.

Although Cousins' nasty brand of play can be an asset at times I suppose to the team he is currently playing for, it is fair to wonder how many players around the league would want him on their own team after some of his antics. Former NHL player Kevin Bieksa unloaded on Cousins this season, going so far as to label the player a "rat" while working the NHL broadcast.

"What people don't wanna watch and see is kneeing, hitting a guys head into the boards, ramming a guy from behind and that is a common theme for [Nick Cousins]," said Bieksa back in January. "I have never done this before but I have to do it, because this is a trend with this player."

Bieksa went a step further however and implied Cousins was a coward while suggesting that his behavior on the ice was an issue for the league as a whole.

"There's no place in the game for this and what is the common theme in all of these? Him at the bottom of the pile in a turtle position," said Bieksa with disgust. "This has been a common theme with this player... somebody in that organization or somebody that he respects has to sit down and say 'Enough of this' or the NHL has to come down and hammer this guy."

"Somebody has to hammer this guy from the department of justice and put an end to these crappy hits because I hate em and that's a rat to me," said Bieksa. "I'm sorry it is."

Bieksa's rant on Cousins would go viral and would result in many fans echoing the opinion expressed by the former NHL defenseman, and it does make you wonder if that opinion is one that is widely shared by many of the players inside of locker rooms around the league.

Cousins had 7 goals and 8 assists for a total of 15 points over 69 regular season games last season, he also registered a single point, an assist, during his 12 appearances during the Panthers' playoff run to the Stanley Cup.