The TLN Maple Leafs prospect rankings were compiled by a panel of seven TLN writers, each ranking our top 20 prospects to form a consensus group ranking.
Rather than hard and fast limits on age or NHL games played to determine “prospect” eligibility, our group decided on a more nuanced approach to include any reasonably young player who is either under contract with the Leafs or on the club’s reserve list, who has not yet established himself as a full-time NHLer.
More than a few eyebrows were raised when the Toronto Maple Leafs went off the board and called Easton Cowan’s name with the 28th pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, but it didn’t take long for him to silence the skeptics and reward the Leafs’ scouting staff on his way to becoming one of the top prospects in all of hockey.
Pegged by many in the public scouting sphere to be taken later in the second or third round of the draft, it was apparent almost immediately that the Leafs had unearthed a diamond in the rough when they bucked consensus to take the undersized, tenacious forward in the first round. Cowan showed impressive flashes in his first development camp shortly after being drafted, but he really started to generate momentum at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament last fall, where he was consistently the best Leaf on the ice.
Looking dominant against other NHL hopefuls in a prospect tournament setting is one thing, but Cowan carried that momentum into his first NHL training camp and continued to stack up strong performances against established professionals in preseason competition. In his first taste of exhibition action at the NHL level, Cowan potted a goal and an assist in just under 17 minutes of ice time, prompting former head coach Sheldon Keefe to admit he had to restrain himself from putting too much on the youngster’s plate by playing him even more than that. But Cowan kept proving he could handle whatever was thrown at him and eventually stuck around on the Leafs’ roster into the opening days of the season.
Cowan didn’t suit up for the Leafs in the regular season before he was reassigned to London in the OHL, but the fact that he hung around as long as he did was an acknowledgment that he had exceeded early expectations and shifted the perception of where he was at as an NHL prospect just a couple of months after many had labelled him as a “reach” in the first round of the draft.
With the OHL season already underway before he rejoined the Knights, Cowan hit the ground running and recorded nine points in his first four games. From there, he made it look easy and put together a junior campaign for the ages. Cowan was simply unstoppable throughout the entire OHL season, stringing together a record-setting 42-game point streak between the regular season and playoffs on his way to earning the Red Tilson Trophy as the league’s most outstanding player in the regular season. He finished with 34 goals and 62 assists in just 54 games, including a league-leading 14 shorthanded points, nearly doubling his point totals from his draft year in 14 fewer games while playing all three forward spots throughout the season.
Cowan’s stellar play through the early part of last season also earned him a bit of a surprise spot on Canada’s roster for the World Juniors. The team struggled throughout the tournament and failed to bring home a medal, and Cowan only managed an empty net goal and one assist in five games. There were flashes of his high-end playmaking ability at various points, including late in the team’s final game against Czechia, where he set up multiple chances that would have given his team the lead, but overall, the tournament was a rare low point in Cowan’s season.
The 2022-23 OHL playoffs is when Cowan really took off and forced the Leafs’ scouting staff to take notice in the first place, notching 21 points in 20 games to finish his draft year. He was even better this past spring, leading the Knights to an OHL Championship and adding an OHL Playoff MVP award to his trophy case with 34 points in 18 games. Cowan continued to come up big in clutch moments during the Memorial Cup, tallying three goals and five assists in four games, but the Knights ultimately fell short in the championship game against Saginaw.
The Knights are set to return this season with much of their roster intact, and another run at the Memorial Cup is well within reach, but Cowan has his eyes set on an NHL roster spot. If he can put together another training camp and preseason like the one he had last year, it will be difficult for Craig Berube and the rest of the Leafs’ staff to deny him of that opportunity.
Cowan made his mark in last year’s preseason with an up-tempo, intense style of play while showing the intelligence and positional awareness required to succeed at the NHL level. He measures in at just 5’11” and 185 pounds, but he plays bigger than that with unflappable tenacity in every aspect of the game. Cowan will skate through contact and throw his weight around whenever the opportunity presents itself but really excels at establishing body position to put himself in advantageous spots to secure or maintain possession.
His motor is always running, and he has learned to use his smaller frame to his advantage, getting underneath opposing defenders to win battles along the wall or cutting through traffic to find a soft spot around the net. Cowan is a shifty skater with impressive lateral mobility and quick-shift ability that allows him to spin off of checks or pivot away from pressure into open ice, and he always has his head up looking to make a play.
The speed, elusiveness, and puck retrieval abilities help form the foundation of Cowan’s offensive game. He shows great anticipation and an understanding of how to draw pressure from opposing defenders before threading a pass to an open teammate, but he also possesses the speed and handling skill to beat opponents one-on-one, making him as dangerous in transition as he is off the cycle. Cowan became more of a shooting threat this past year, adding another layer to his already diverse offensive skill set, but his ability to identify openings in the offensive zone and set up teammates in scoring areas is still his most outstanding attribute and primary method of attack.
Cowan’s aggressive nature is obvious at first glance, but he is rarely a reckless player. He was afforded a lot more leeway to take chances in the OHL, but he has shown an impressive ability to balance relentless puck pursuit with responsible positioning and support play, especially during his audition with the Leafs in last year’s preseason. That defensive conscience is illustrative of the overall hockey sense that also makes Cowan such a dynamic offensive threat. He has plenty of raw skill, but it is his intelligence and ability to process the game at a high rate that has him on track to become a top-six forward for the Leafs in the not-too-distant future.
There appears to be a job there for the taking in the Leafs’ top-nine forward group, especially if Nick Robertson’s trade request is granted, though rumours of the team’s desire to add to their depth persist. After a nearly perfect season, Cowan has little left to prove at the junior level, and he should be given every opportunity to stick with the big club, regardless of who is added to the roster before camp.
Whether he’s ready to take on a full NHL campaign, has an early season audition like Fraser Minten last year, or gets sent back to junior to start the season, Cowan has significantly improved both his NHL timeline and ultimate projection in short order. He has been on a steep and steady upward trajectory, transforming himself from an off-the-board pick a year ago to being considered a bonafide top prospect, and it feels like just a matter of time before he becomes a key contributor for the Leafs.
