Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Easton Cowan’s emergence and energy has sparked the Maple Leafs lineup and has finally given the team a full ‘four-line’ look for the first time in a long time.
When the season opened up, Easton Cowan had all eyes on him as he was highly anticipated coming in and fans were desperate for a jolt of energy and playmaking since the loss of Mitch Marner.
Though it took a little bit for him to get his footing, Cowan has looked ever the NHL player and has found some seriously good chemistry alongside Nick Robertson and fellow newcomer Nicolas Roy.
He’s not blowing people away offensively but he’s playing smart, scoring when given the chance and has a bit of nastiness to him that’s been much needed.
Easton Cowan’s presence giving Toronto a truly balanced lineup
But he’s doing more than that according to analyst Zack Phillips, who felt that Cowan deserved his flowers not only for his own personal accomplishments but for giving the Maple Leafs something they haven’t had in a long time:
Cowan was flying tonight, he was creating chances, he was really quick in transition, he wasn’t afraid of getting into any of the physical game.
The chemistry he’s built up with Nick Robertson and Nic Roy, I think they found something with that third line.
That line is a real positive because it allows you to spread out ice time and you talk about the stars playing all the time, but through this lineup I think more than ever they’ve had the ability to go ‘Third line go, fourth line go.’
Phillips then explained that this balance is giving Toronto a lot more relief for their stars and the team finally feels like a full-four line squad:
They can play any lines out there at any point. Need a goal, they can do it. Tied at one, go lock it down. You can use Laughton and Lorentz to eat massive penalty killing time and save fresh 5-on-5 time for Auston Matthews.
But the depth contributions from the bottom-six have been unreal and I think Easton Cowan has brought this youthful energy, a level of skill and a level of compete that this team hasn’t really had in their bottom-six.
It’s been remarkable to see Cowan adjust his game a bit more to suit the Craig Berube system as he’s fighting hard for pucks, is relentless on the forecheck and if he gets pushed, won’t be afraid to push back.
Toronto’s depth is shockingly good
Looking deeper though, this is a huge relief for guys like Auston Matthews and John Tavares. Often looked at as players who need to focus on both offense and defense equally, this balance allows them to play better matchups.
If Matthews is playing the PK and heavy defensive minutes, that takes away from his offensive opportunities, and Cowan alongside Roy, Lorentz and Laughton are all good enough to great penalty killers.
You could sum up Toronto’s bottom-six with the following players:
– Scott Laughton (8 points, 52 hits, 59.4% face-off win percentage)
– Nick Robertson (23 points, 49 hits, 13.3% shot percentage)
– Easton Cowan (15 points, 43 hits, plus-5)
– Nicolas Roy (17 points, 48 hits, 53.2% face-off win percentage)
– Steven Lorentz (13 points, 85 hits, plus-4)
– Bobby McMann (25 points, 104 hits, plus-5)
To see that type of offensive production coming from a team who just last year had names like Ryan Reaves and David Kampf in the lineup. The bottom-six is doing exactly what the team needs.
Combined with a resurgent Auston Matthews, great goaltending, fairly solid defense and unwavering confidence in each other then this could be the spark that sets the Maple Leafs ablaze.
All thanks to Easton Cowan, who has grabbed the bull by the horns as it looks like the ‘Cowboy’ is enjoying his first of what’s going to be many rodeos.
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The Leafs may have finally found something that changes their entire team
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