World Junior Player Spotlight: Easton Cowan

More on how Easton Cowan's tournament has gone thus far, his strengths, weaknesses, and showing up when it matters most, ahead of Canada's Quarter Final Matchup versus Czechia.

Easton Cowan was selected to Canada because of his "dog on a bone" mentality, and that was established over and over at Selection Camp. 

Though he didn't seem to have the most confident camp, Cowan made this team because of what we have seen him do over the last two seasons in London. In London's playoff run last season, Cowan was easily the most complete forward for them. 

He showcased his ability to show up when it matters most, and he stepped up to the plate when the spotlight was the brightest.

Cowan put up 21 points in 20 playoff games on a heavily-offensive team, and flashed his offensive upside ahead of the NHL Draft, which was previously in question.

The Toronto Maple Leafs first round pick has come into the World Juniors and played a lot of minutes for Canada, but hasn't found too much success. He has proven to be successful when supporting high-end skill, players like Denver Barkey & Kasper Halttunen.

Truth be told, a lot of Canada's "top guys" haven't been getting the job done on the scoreboard, and Cowan's role has been changed to a depth role. Against Germany, he was playing on the fourth line alongside Nate Danielson & Owen Beck — Canada's checking line.

This seems to be a more comfortable role for Cowan, where he doesn't have to focus on producing. He can focus on being hard to play against, being reliable in his own zone, and getting into the heads of his opponents.

Cowan's utility is what makes him unique when projecting him to the professional level. His compete and work ethic makes him an energy player in the bottom-six, but he can also jump into the top-six and support skill with his playmaking.

Cowan will play on the third line alongside Yager & Rehkopf, two highly-skilled players in the Quarter Finals against Czechia. This may be 'just the fit' for Cowan's game.

As previously mentioned, he steps up in big games and when the pressures the highest. The pressure is high for Canada, who wasn't too dominate in the round-robin. They will have to shut down Czechia's offence and find some of their own. 

Cowan's "dog on a bone" mentality will play a crucial role in this do-or-die game.