Easton Cowan puts on a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey after being picked by the team during the first round of the NHL hockey draft, on June 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.George Walker IV/The Associated Press
It would be easy to simply look at the numbers and conclude that Easton Cowan has had an outstanding Ontario Hockey League postseason. After all, 39 points in just 17 games – for an average of almost 2.3 points per game – is approaching the sort of scoring rate that Connor McDavid, Mitch Marner or Eric Lindros once displayed on the same stage.
But one play in particular stands out as testament to the improvisational ability of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top prospect, a 20-year-old who will be looking to stick with the big club this fall after being returned to junior hockey after each of the past two training camps.
In Game 3 of the OHL final against the Oshawa Generals this month – with the series tied 1-1 – the London Knights winger crossed the blue line, only to find Oshawa defenceman Andrew Gibson lining him up for a hit. Without breaking stride, Cowan spun away from the second-round NHL draft pick with a 360-degree pirouette, leaving Gibson body checking thin air while he set up linemate Kasper Halttunen for a one-time goal. That gave the Knights a 3-0 lead in a pivotal game they would win on their way to a second consecutive OHL crown.
“The neat thing about him is he can do those things, but he doesn’t necessarily look to do those things,” said Knights play-by-play voice Mike Stubbs. “Like, in talking about that with him after it was just he was looking to avoid a hit, and in his mind, the best way to get out of the way was to kind of jump in the air, and then he lands, and there’s Kasper right there.”
In his final year of junior hockey, Cowan has left his mark on the Knights franchise, becoming the team’s career playoff scoring leader with 96 points in 60 games and finishing the OHL playoffs as the league’s top scorer for the second year in a row, becoming the first player to do so since Taylor Hall 15 years ago.
He also posted an otherworldly 65-point streak, which effectively eclipsed the OHL record of 55 set by former Leaf captain Doug Gilmour, but isn’t an official record as the run took place over two seasons.
Now the Mount Brydges, Ont., native takes aim at the Memorial Cup once again, after falling one game short last year with a 4-3 loss to host Saginaw Spirit in the final. London opens its tournament Saturday against the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League champions, the Moncton Wildcats.
“We’ve been motivated ever since that loss last year and we’re just excited to get going,” said Cowan, who led all scorers with eight points in last year’s tournament. “We’ve got a good team here, and obviously that was a heartbreaking loss, so we’re looking to win it this year.”
Cowan, who was given the nickname “Cowboy” by former London teammate and current Montreal Canadiens defenceman Logan Mailloux, grew up as a Maple Leafs fan and names Marner and former Leaf Nazem Kadri as his favourite Toronto players.
Indeed, there are certain similarities between Cowan and Marner, with both listed at six feet tall and 180 pounds or so. Both excelled as members of the London Knights – with each winning both regular season and playoff MVP trophies – and both arguably played their final seasons in the OHL with nothing left to prove at that level.
However, this season didn’t go according to plan for Cowan, with injuries costing him almost a third of the year, causing his point production to drop from 96 points to 69.
“I felt like I had a pretty good year, ups and downs, a lot of adversity,” he said. “I had to battle through, and that helped me out a lot. But I know I’ve gotten stronger, my defence has gotten better and overall, I’ve gotten bigger and the things that I wanted to work on, the little details, I know I’ve gotten better at.”
Having got a taste of playing for Leafs head coach Craig Berube at camp last year, Cowan thinks he knows what it will take to have success playing in his system. Indeed, he says he keeps the tips that Berube gave him last year in his back pocket.
Cowan also notes the similarities between playing for Berube and his coach in London, Dale Hunter. Both are former enforcers who accrued more than 3,000 penalty minutes in the NHL, preaching defence first and north-south hockey.
They also inspired Cowan to add some sandpaper to his game, with the winger getting in as many fights this season – three – as he had in his first three seasons combined.
“It’s always good to stand up for your teammates or try to get momentum back,” he said. “So I did what I could. I felt like I played a complete game all year.”
It remains to be seen how Berube and the Leafs brain trust respond to his development over the past 12 months. And with Marner set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, it may well be that the Toronto Maple Leafs are leaning on Cowan to do some of the things his fellow London Knights alumnus has done for them so spectacularly over the past nine seasons.
“Easton not only kills penalties, he’s a threat on the penalty kill,” Stubbs said of Cowan’s wide-ranging skill set. “Last year, he tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals, but if you need him to control the puck and distribute on the power play, either up top or on the half-wall, he’s able to do that too.
“And that’s a great comparison, because both of them do have that ability.”