It took two games for Easton Cowan to finally get in the lineup for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season. And another two games for the rookie winger to show that he has the skill — and tenacity — to potentially fill Mitch Marner's coveted spot on the top line.

"He is a dog with a bone out there," coach Craig Berube said of Cowan, who recorded his first NHL point in a 7-4 win against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

"He is a worker — a worker with skill."

Cowan will have to continue to do both — work hard and produce — if he hopes to stick for good alongside Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. But despite the small sample size, Berube said that "it seems like that line is forming chemistry."

Then again, it's not like there are many alternatives.

The Leafs have tried Matias Maccelli on the top line and didn't like the immediate results. Max Domi, who spent time playing alongside Matthews in the past, could still be an option, but with Scott Laughton still out with a broken foot, the Leafs need Domi centering the third line.

So, that leaves a 20-year-old who spent all of last year in the OHL with the inside track to becoming the next Marner.

If so, he's showing that he can do the job.

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Two games in, Cowan sort of looks like a younger version of the former Leafs winger.

Like Marner, Cowan is also a first-round pick who spent time playing major junior for the London Knights, where he won a Memorial Cup, set a franchise record for points in consecutive games and was a league MVP. Like Marner, Cowan is also smallish and shifty, with a high hockey I.Q.

And like Marner, where Cowan fed Matthews with an outlet pass that led to a two-on-one goal, he already seems to knows where his captain likes to receive the puck.

More importantly, like Marner, Cowan knows how to play without the puck.

"I think he really supports the puck with those guys and makes a lot of little plays that maybe go unnoticed to a lot of people, but I notice it," said Berube. "He hounds everything, gets pucks back, and strips people."

Now comes the challenge: doing this on a nightly basis?

The Leafs don't need Cowan to rack up 102 points, like Marner did last season. At least, not yet they don't. But they do need Cowan — or whomever plays on the top line — to help make sure that Matthews has a season that looks more like 2023-24, when he scored 69 goals rather than last year when he scored 33. 

With Matthews having scored three goals in four games, so far, so good.

After making his NHL debut in a 3-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, Cowan picked up his first career assist a day later against the Predators on a gorgeous two-on-one passing play between Matthews and Knies. Immediately after scoring, Matthews pointed back to Cowan for initiating the play. Afterwards, he was awarded the "player of the game" championship belt. 

"He’s played well," said Berube. "He played well again tonight. On back-to-back nights, I wasn’t sure, but I thought he had another good night. It was good to see."

Again, it's only been two games. There's going to be ups and downs for the 20-year-old, who skipped the minors and went straight from junior to the NHL. That's a big jump, no matter who you are. It's why the Leafs are trying to be patient with Cowan, by scratching him from the first two games of the season, while also providing him with opportunities to succeed.

But if you were concerned that Cowan might not be physically mature to handle big-time minutes on a line that gets the toughest assignments from the opposition, those worries were put to rest after he bounced back up after getting shoved from behind into the Toronto net against Nashville on Tuesday.

'I Remember Being In That Same Position': Maple Leafs' Brandon Carlo Shares Funny Story About Easton Cowan's Early Days In NHL <a href="https://x.com/nickbarden/status/1977860208614391957">Easton Cowan</a> is enjoying life up in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"I think he has been physical on people. He forechecks extremely well," Berube said of Cowan, who has five hits in two games. "I haven’t noticed anything popping up to me that suggests he can’t handle the physicality right now."

Nor have we seen anything to suggest that Cowan can't handle the pressures that come with playing on the top line.