As the London Knights wrapped up their OHL regular season, Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan found his name on the scoresheet. This has been a frequent occurrence for the player. In fact, it extended his point streak to 36 games. Cowan took sole control of the third-longest scoring streak in the CHL since the year 2000.
While this mark is impressive in itself, the more important angle for Leafs fans is to understand how Cowan is producing these points, who he is as a player, and what he might become as an NHL player.
A brief history of Cowan’s development
Since being selected 28th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, Cowan has been in the spotlight. Far from a consensus first-round pick, Cowan was a surprise choice by the Leafs, selected with a pick that originally belonged to the Boston Bruins, acquired from the Washington Capitals in the Rasmus Sandin trade.
Despite his relatively low profile prior to the draft, the Leafs were obviously excited by Cowan as a player. His role and ice time with the Knights grew through his draft season, reflected by Cowan rising from the 75th-ranked North American skater in NHL Central Scouting’s mid-season rankings all the way to 51st by their final rankings.
Clearly, the Leafs took a gamble, trusting their evaluation enough to break consensus by such a wide margin. As a reminder, Cowan was 51st on one of the four final lists Central Scouting produces to rank a draft class, with separate lists for goalies and skaters playing either in North America or outside of it.
The Leafs are drafting for the long-term future
Under current Head of Amateur Scouting Wes Clark, the Leafs seem to value their projections of how a player might develop, asking themselves: “Which player will be best in five years?” rather than: “Which player had the best draft season?”
In each of the three drafts that Clark has been Head of Amateur Scouting, the Leafs have had success drafting players they perceive to have greater upside than their draft-eligible seasons might have shown. In 2022, the Leafs selected Fraser Minten 38th overall, ranked 28th by Central Scouting’s North American skaters, and Matthew Knies 57th overall, ranked 37th by Central Scouting’s North American skaters. Knies, in particular, had a similar late-season charge up the draft rankings, just as Cowan would two seasons later.
Of course, the process of scouting and drafting is collaborative, and Cowan made a strong impression on many in the Leafs organisation. Assistant General Manager Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser was notably impressed with Cowan during a pre-draft interview between him and the Leafs. Wickenheiser has specifically mentioned being impressed with Cowan’s attitude and intangibles.
Cowan’s style of play
While Cowan’s point streak is certainly impressive, it is worth examining how Cowan has been able to produce. Cowan has increased his OHL production across the board this season, yet most of this increase has come from his assist totals. Cowan is a good playmaker, but is far from a one-dimensional player, contributing in all phases of the game. Cowan is the Knights’ leading scorer by points per game, and the Knights were the best team in the OHL.
A fulcrum of the Knights’ power play, Cowan primarily operates on his weak side flank, often finding teammates Kasper Halttunen (San Jose Sharks) and Sam Dickinson (2024 draft eligible) for one-timers. Cowan frequently uses his agility to attack the middle of the ice, threatening opposing defences into conceding passing lanes. Though such a role on the Leafs’ top power play unit is nearly impossible to attain, this willingness to attack contested ice and sense to find teammates will be assets in the professional ranks.
Cowan is able to use his skating and hockey sense to score as well as finding quiet ice for one-timers or finding his way to the net front. Cowan is not the biggest player but seems bigger than his size thanks to his willingness to get to tough areas and his ability to win puck battles. Cowan can create turnovers, steal pucks on the forecheck or backcheck, and even find ways to win board battles against bigger opponents.
Cowan’s determination and effort are verified by his ability on the penalty kill. Cowan is a threat to create turnovers in the defensive zone, using his speed to create rush chances off of those turnovers. Cowan does have a dynamic quality to his skating and puck control, but his game is built with more substance than style. Cowan can be trusted in every situation, giving him a very high floor as a prospect.
The future outlook on Cowan
The next step for Cowan will be the OHL playoffs. Cowan was very effective in last season’s playoffs, scoring 21 points in 20 games, losing to the Peterborough Petes in the OHL final. Cowan and the Knights will be looking to improve on last year’s results and will have a good chance to do so as the Western Conference’s top seed. Of course, with an OHL championship, Cowan would then be headed to the Memorial Cup. This playoff season does offer a bigger stage for Cowan to continue his coming-of-age party.
At this point, Cowan seems like he should’ve gone higher in last year’s draft, and is clearly the Leafs’ top prospect. With a dominant playoff performance, Cowan might be able to build upon that, perhaps even earning recognition as one of the best NHL-affiliated prospects league-wide. The best-case scenario would be for Cowan to lead the Knights to a Memorial Cup, a feat that would push him up league-wide prospect rankings, perhaps even into the top 25.
The further we attempt to project into the future the more incorrect we might be. Cowan will generate a lot of buzz at next season’s training camp, and the Leafs have shown a willingness to give young players a chance to make the team out of camp under GM Brad Treliving, as they did with Minten this season.
Whether or not Cowan sees any NHL games next season is one thing, but a deeper question lies with whether that would be the best thing for his development. The Leafs seemed caught between options with Minten this season, sending him back to the WHL, and to a U20 World Juniors appearance. Minten also had a year of his entry-level contract burned. Some might think it frivolity to be so consequentially indecisive, though perhaps there is a method behind this.
A big step forward for the Leafs
The Leafs might value giving their worthy prospects a glimpse of the NHL and its rhythms or are even enacting an aggressive strategy for their players’ second contracts. Most of all, it might be a requirement to embrace and foster the inherent competition of the NHL. Seeing as the Leafs front office has a lot of trust in itself and its practices, the belief might be that whatever ups and downs Cowan encounters he will be able to make the best of it.
It’s important to acknowledge that another season in junior hockey does not reflect poorly on Cowan as a prospect. Cowan might be disappointed not to make the Leafs next October, but no one else should be. He has had a great season in the OHL, but with the U20 World Juniors a possibility, there is still a worthy challenge for Cowan to be even more dominant.
Regardless of what the Leafs are or are not capable of achieving in the playoffs this season, Cowan will offer a lot of intrigue. The Memorial Cup will be held in late May, and we should see Cowan a big part of the Leafs’ offseason schedule, from the rookie tournament to what might be the very end of the preseason and beyond.
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