Auston Matthews is back and the signs of his return were evident after his skate with teammates on Long Island. John Tavares has a good idea of what Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan is going through after losing in the quarterfinals to Czechia at the World Juniors. Although he didn't lose back-to-back years in the same fashion at the tournament, Toronto's assistant captain has a good understanding of what it's like to be on the losing end of a moment as big as that. Cowan has been on Canada during the back-to-back years where they've lost in the quarterfinals to Czechia. He won't have another chance at a medal in that tournament, but that doesn't mean Cowan won't have success in the future. "I think, obviously, it's a special tournament. It gets tremendous recognition in our country. But, yeah, he's got so much game, so much road ahead of him. It's a stepping stone, and unfortunately, it wasn't the result that you wanted," Tavares said on Saturday morning ahead of Toronto's matchup against the Boston Bruins. "But, it can be a stepping stone in a different way, and that's just going through adversity, and when things don't go the way you want them to go, your opportunity to learn and find ways to get better and how you can handle yourself and be a better player and all those sorts of things through it. Like I said, we're completely behind him and will stick with him." One thing that's different now from when Tavares played at the tournament is the amount of backlash these young players face online. If you look at Cowan's latest post on Instagram, it's sadly riddled with hate about his play at the World Juniors. The 19-year-old finished with one goal and two assists for three points, tied for the most on Team Canada at the tournament. Although Tavares won back-to-back gold medals with his home country, there have been other moments in his career where he's received hate online. It's one of the most difficult parts of being a professional athlete in this day and age. "I'm not online looking at it all or hearing about it or watching it and all that. But I have, obviously, a good idea of what the spotlight is like, playing at the World Juniors, playing in Canada," Tavares said. "No doubt, obviously, the following that our fanbase has for our team and prospects, and someone like Easton's got tremendous potential and is going to play a significant role with the team and the club for a long time and be a very good player. So, it's never easy for him, or all those kids with that opportunity to play for Canada, play on home soil, and to just not go the way you wanted it to go. "Every player goes through adversity at different points of their career, and it's really an opportunity for growth and to get better and to learn from it. No doubt he'll be surrounded by a lot of great people, certainly us in here support him tremendously." The Maple Leafs selected Cowan in the first round (28th overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft. He's in the midst of a historic 56-game point streak with the OHL's London Knights, where he's scored 94 points (38 goals, 56 assists) during that span. Cowan has 15 goals and 13 assists for 28 points in 20 games this season with London. Although he didn't have success at the World Juniors, many could say there's a lot of good in the future for the young forward. Tavares agrees. "Love him as a kid and the type of skillset he has and the player he's going to be. He's going to be really good going forward. He just has to — like a lot of them on the team that didn't have success — learn from it and stay with it." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjExNjM5NDEwNTc4NDM0MDI0/googlenews.svg] Stay updated with the most interesting Maple Leafs stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwytvfCA?ceid=CA:en&oc=3] to never miss a story.
