Toronto Maple Leafs Are Reminded They Have A Tough Decision To Make About Easton Cowan

After terrorizing the OHL last season, right winger Easton Cowan is doing his darndest to force the hand of the Toronto Maple Leafs brass.

In the first of two games of the Prospect Showdown between the Montreal Canadiens and the Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre, Cowan was consistently the most dangerous player on the ice not named Lane Hutson, who was impressive in his own right for Montreal.

Cowan finished the game with one goal and an assist to go along with a shootout tally in the Leafs' 4-3 win.

The 5-foot-11 winger is undoubtedly ready to turn pro after taking home playoff MVP honors and the league title with the London Knights last season. 

Cowan, however, is ineligible to play in the AHL full-time this season. Per the CHL-NHL agreement, Cowan must be 20 years old or have played four major junior seasons to play in the AHL. He is 19, with parts of three major junior seasons under his belt. He would only be eligible for a two-week conditioning stint if he started in the NHL and was a healthy scratch for five straight games.

In the opening minutes of Saturday's contest, Cowan burst through two Montreal defenders from a standstill to create his own breakaway and draw a tripping penalty.

Cowan, along with linemates Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin, were by far the best forward line for either team.

On a first-period power play, Cowan impressed with his ability to open up space with his effortless skating. Carrying the puck, he shifted from the right side of the ice to the left, drawing all four of the Canadiens defenders into his gravitational pull. He then dished the puck to defenseman Topi Niemela, who slid the puck down to the goal line to Minten, who threw it off an opposing player for the 2-1 lead.

In the second frame, Cowan continued his dominance on the man advantage with a smart give-and-go with Minten to set himself up for a sharp-angle, one-time snap shot that beat Matteo Drobac between the pads.

Of course, Cowan showed up in the game’s biggest moment, scoring in the shootout to help the Leafs to a 4-3 win. Cowan skated in slow motion as if he were Evgeny Kuznetsov, stickhandling at a rapid pace and faking multiple shots before lifting the puck over the goalie’s shoulder.

Cowan possesses an NHL shot, soft hands and poise with the puck. He played with purpose and precision – offensive opportunities almost always followed after he touched the puck.

Away from the puck, Cowan played with an edge, backchecking hard and finishing hits whenever he could. His small size never prevented him from challenging bigger players.

Cowan is chomping at the bit for a pro hockey job, but without the AHL to fall back on, it’s NHL or CHL for him. That’s a massive gulf in skill level.

The Leafs’ 2023 first-rounder is already arguably too skilled for the OHL, having recorded 96 points in 54 games with the London Knights in 2023-24, good for the league’s second-best points-per-game rate. Aside from winning the Memorial Cup that London barely missed last season, there’s nothing Cowan hasn’t accomplished in major junior aside from being the CHL MVP.

Montreal didn’t have many answers to contain Cowan in the prospect matchup, but the NHL is a whole different world.

Many undersized forwards have stalled in their development at the NHL level. Given what the Leafs have been through with forward Nick Robertson, a similarly undersized winger who has struggled to produce consistently in the NHL, it's easy to see where the Leafs' concerns would come from.

Should Cowan continue to impress in training camp and pre-season games, the best course of action could be to give him an NHL audition in October to gauge his NHL readiness. Cowan certainly has top-six potential, so it may be tough for him to adjust to a bottom-six role on a stacked Maple Leafs forward group.

That being said, Cowan is an appealing option to inject some skill and offense into the lineup should veterans such as Calle Jarnkrok and Ryan Reaves disappoint. Cowan is fifth on the Maple Leafs' right wing depth chart in The Hockey News Yearbook behind those two players.

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