Easton Cowan is staying patient for his NHL debut.
The 20-year-old made the Toronto Maple Leafs out of training camp, but was a healthy scratch for the team's season-opening 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday. Cowan was an extra on the ice again on Friday as the Maple Leafs prepared for a trip to face the Detroit Red Wings the next day.
Despite being one of the forwards on the outside of the lineup, there were a couple of signs during Friday's practice that suggest maybe Cowan does make his debut against the Red Wings.
The young forward rotated through Toronto's third line of Dakota Joshua, Max Domi, and Nick Robertson. If there's anyone Cowan would swap places with in the lineup, it'd be one of Robertson or Calle Jarnkrok.
Jarnkrok found the back of the net, while Robertson was a minus-one in 10:40 of ice time.
Cowan also rotated into the Maple Leafs' second power play unit in practice on Friday. The player he swapped places with was Robertson.
"Yeah, it's been great. I mean, you're on an NHL team, so it's pretty cool, especially your hometown team," Cowan said after making the Maple Leafs out of camp. "Just enjoying every day and just keep trying to get better each and every day."
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube wouldn't reveal much after Friday's practice about whether Cowan would play in Detroit or not. Berube did mention, though, that the young forward is "close" to making his NHL debut.
"He's got a great attitude, he works hard, he had a good practice today. That's decisions that we have to discuss and make, and right now we'll see what happens tomorrow."
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If Cowan does get into Saturday's game against the Red Wings, he'll have plenty of family in attendance (20-30 people, he said). Being from around the London, Ontario, area, he also joked that it's probably easier for his family to get to Detroit than downtown Toronto.
"Yeah, it might be better with the traffic," he smiled.
Being a healthy scratch for Toronto's first game of the season, Cowan got a chance to gain a birds-eye perspective of the NHL game. He noted that the NHL is very different from junior, where you have plenty of time to make plays and decide where the puck is going.
"If you get a chance, you've got to be able to bear down, so it all starts in practice," he said. "That's what I've been trying to do, just work on in-tight scoring and stuff like that, and it’ll translate to the game."
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Cowan has already learned a lot in his first few days with the NHL squad. But if there's one thing he's picked up from a teammate, who's it from, and what did he learn?
"Probably from Auston (Matthews)," he said.
"Just watching the way he leads on and off the ice. I mean, he's so dialed in, works hard in the gym, and then on the ice, he's special. I mean, you see the plays he makes, like today in practice. He's looking to the inside, he goes outside like that. So super cool, and just try to learn from him a lot."
A player making their NHL debut is an incredible moment, but it should come at the right time. Berube cited on Friday afternoon that while it might be important to get Cowan into the lineup, he's thinking about the team first.
"I love Cowan, and we all do. He's going to be a good Leaf, I'll tell you that. He's going to be a good hockey player, and he is a good hockey player," Berube said. "But the team is the most important thing, and we've got to make decisions. They don't always please everybody."
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There'll be several decisions over the next 24 hours for Berube, such as adjustments that need to be made ahead of their matchup against the Red Wings. However, there'll be no bigger decision than whether he puts Cowan in the lineup or not.
"You know, that’s out of my control," Cowan said when asked what it's like waiting for his name to be called. "I'm just trying to do my thing, and that's work hard each and every day, have good practices, good scratch skates, just getting better, and as soon as I get in, I know I'll be ready."
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