The Maple Leafs lost 6-5 to the Detroit Red Wings in overtime in their pre-season finale on Saturday night. Sunday is a day off for the team.

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After watching Easton Cowan play in five of Toronto’s six pre-season games, Craig Berube believes the 20-year-old winger is ready for the NHL level.

“Yeah, I think he is,” the coach confirmed. “We got decisions to make, but I think he showed us enough that he is ready. He’s got a motor on him. You know, he impresses me with his motor. Like, he’s just constant work and he’s got a high IQ. I like him a lot.”

After failing to gain traction at last year’s training camp, Cowan seemed confident from Day 1 this time around.

“I just came in with a different mindset this year,” he said. “Just kind of a free mindset. I felt like I did a good job with that, not worrying about too much, and I felt like it led to good hockey for me.”

Cowan planned to spend Sunday watching football with fellow Leafs prospect Ben Danford.

“We’ll get some breakfast and hang out and hope for some good news,” he said.

“My mind’s pretty free right now. I got no worries.”

Easton Cowan packed on seven pounds of muscle during the summer & is ready to push for a job with the Leafs

“I’m definitely stronger, bigger & faster — it’s the best I’ve ever felt coming into camp”👇https://t.co/KaxeUOh0yk

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) September 12, 2025

Danford, who suited up in two pre-season games with the Leafs, is expected to be sent back to the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League. Cowan, meanwhile, may be making his NHL debut on Wednesday night when the Leafs open the regular season against the Montreal Canadiens.

“It would mean everything,” said the native of Mount Brydges, Ont., who grew up cheering for the Leafs. “That’s what you dream of as a kid. So, yeah, we’ll see.”

Cowan, who was Toronto’s first round pick in the 2023 draft, didn’t post flashy numbers in the pre-season finishing with two assists, but he earned consistent praise from Berube for focusing on the details of the game.

“I felt like throughout camp, I got better and better each and every day,” Cowan said. “Obviously, the numbers weren’t there, but I felt like I played a good 200-foot game and I felt really good in my game. I know if I keep working in practice on my shot, eventually the chances will go in. So, yeah, I felt like I had a really good pre-season.”

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Berube felt that Cowan “maybe tried to do too much at times” in Saturday’s pre-season game, which featured a stacked Red Wings roster facing a group of players destined to start in the Leafs minor-league system.

“It is not from a lack of effort,” Berube said of Cowan. “He is trying to do things that he is good at. He did a lot of good things. Like everybody on the team, I thought the effort was really good.”

Toronto’s top player in Detroit was 5-foot-9 winger Nick Robertson, who grew up in nearby Northville, Michigan and had his in-laws in the crowd.

“My best game,” the 24-year-old declared. “I played with more desperation in my game, more of an urgency, and I’m just happy … I got into a rhythm of how I want to play the season.”

Robertson scored a shorthanded goal for the first time since his junior days and led the team with five shots. He also tied for the team lead with three hits.

“He was really flying,” said Berube. “Physical. Just aggressive. Shot the puck, scored. He did a lot of good things. He was really good.”

Robertson skated on the fifth line for most of training camp and only suited up in one pre-season game with the team’s NHL regulars.

What sparked Saturday’s performance?

“Honestly, I think desperation,” Robertson said. “I think it was an opportunity for me to kind of showcase myself. I’m going to play top minutes, play against their top players and I’m happy the way not only I played, but how other guys took advantage of their opportunity. I thought the group battled pretty hard today.”

This is not unfamiliar territory for Robertson, who has been fighting for a job at the start of every season since being picked in the second round of the 2019 draft.

“I’m so immune to this situation and how it works,” he said. “So, like I said, I’m happy how I finished it off and how other guys played today and it’s just kind of building on that going the season.”

Robertson scored 15 goals last year, which was seventh on the Leafs, but sat as a healthy scratch in 10 of 13 playoff games.

After initially filing for arbitration, Robertson signed a one-year, $1.83-million deal with Toronto in the summer.

Has Robertson done enough to prove he belongs in Leafs’ opening night lineup? Cheryl Pounder and Darren Dreger join James Duthie to discuss if they think Nick Robertson has done enough to get into the Maple Leafs’ opening night lineup, and what key questions Toronto is faced with as they get set to open the season on Wednesday night.

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Dennis Hildeby stopped 12 of 14 shots during the first half of Saturday’s game.

“A couple of things I would have liked to have done better, but overall felt pretty calm,” the 6-foot-7 goalie said.

Hildeby, who signed a three-year extension in the summer, finished with a team-best .920 save percentage over three pre-season appearances.

“I think that he worked quite a bit this summer on some things that he needed to improve upon, and I’ve seen that improvement,” said Berube.

With Joseph Woll away from the team to attend to a family matter, the Leafs may start the season with Hildeby as the back-up to Anthony Stolarz.

Hildeby started the season in that role last year when Woll was dealing with an injury. He ended up playing six NHL games with an .878 save percentage last season. The soft-spoken Swede seems more prepared for the opportunity this time around.

“I’m feeling more confident,” Hildeby, 24, said. “I got a feel for it all over this past two years whether it’s getting to know the guys or just being in the locker room. Everything feels more familiar and all that stuff. So, yeah, definitely more confident that way.”

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If the Leafs feel Hildeby needs more development time in the American Hockey League, they can turn to James Reimer, who is with the team on a professional tryout.

“I’m not quite sure,” the 37-year-old admitted when asked about his future with the Leafs. “I’m going to take it minute by minute, I guess, and we’ll see what happens. Like I said earlier in the week, it was a joy to come here and we’ll see what happens, you know, what decisions get made and what the need is and what what they think they need going forward. We’ll see how that goes and yeah, we’ll find out together.”

Reimer allowed four goals on 28 shots in the second half of the game on Saturday, but all the goals came with Detroit in a man-advantage situation, including a rare 6-on-3.

“It’s his first game, he hasn’t played in a long time,” Berube noted. “He made some good saves, you know, and then we put him in a bad spot with penalties and all that.”

After scoring twice including the overtime winner, Dylan Larkin shared a moment with Reimer, who played for Detroit during the 2023-24 season.

“He just said something nice,” Reimer relayed with a smile. “I wish he would have not scored and not said something nice. He’s a great captain, great guy, and wish him all the best.”

Reimer was playing for the first time since wrapping up last season with the Buffalo Sabres.

“I like how quickly I settled in,” he said. “I felt actually pretty much up to speed right from the get go. I’ve been practising hard and working hard this last week, so I think it’s probably a testament to that. And then I thought just overall, just reading the play for the most part and seeing pucks, the game didn’t feel too fast out there. Sometimes when you haven’t played in a while, the game can feel kind of fast, and I thought I settled in nicely, and was able to get to my spots for the most part.”

Reimer spent his first six NHL seasons with the Leafs. Saturday marked his first game action of any kind with the franchise since Feb. 23, 2016.

“It was fun to put the sweater on again,” he said.

‘Good emotions’: Reimer aims to make most of second chance with Leafs Goaltender James Reimer is back with the Maple Leafs on a PTO, and following his first session with the team on Saturday, the 37-year old spoke about what it means to be back with the team, and making the most of his second chance with Toronto.

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Lines in Saturday’s pre-season game in Detroit:

Robertson – Haymes – Jarnkrok

Cowan – Quillan – Lettieri

Barbolini – Shaw – A. Nylander

Pezzetta – Pare – Boyd

Benoit – Mermis

Thrun – Myers

Webber – Benning

Hildeby

Reimer

Lines in Saturday’s practice in Toronto:

Knies – Matthews – Maccelli

McMann – Tavares – W. Nylander

Joshua – Domi – Kampf*

Lorentz – Roy – Groulx

McCabe – Tanev

Rielly – Carlo

Ekman-Larsson – Danford

Smith – Villeneuve

Stolarz

Peksa

*Cleared waivers on Saturday

Lines in Saturday’s Toronto Marlies AHL pre-season game:

Valis – Stevens – Tverberg

Baddock – Johnstone – King

Kirwan – Grainger – Kressler

Sim – Fontaine – Sikic

Chadwick – Sharpe

Prokop – Parsons

Bohlinger – McCleary

Akhtyamov

Appleby