Easton Cowan named to OHL’s 2nd All-Star Team, Ben Danford selected to OHL’s 3rd team

Toronto Maple Leafs prospects Easton Cowan and Ben Danford were named to the OHL’s second and third all-star team, respectively, on Friday.

Cowan is starring for the London Knights and led his team to a second consecutive OHL championship. The 20-year-old posted 29 goals and 69 points in 46 regular season games, then added 13 goals and 39 points in 17 playoff contests. Cowan was selected 28th overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2023 NHL Draft and will compete for a roster spot next fall.

London will fight for its place in the Memorial Cup Final on Friday night, when it faces off against the Moncton Wildcats, while the Medicine Hat Tigers await the winner. Cowan and the Knights are looking to avenge last year’s Memorial Cup Final loss, where they were ousted by the Saginaw Spirit.

“He’s a phenomenal player,” Danford recently said of Cowan. “He’s a hard player to defend for sure with just the way he sees the ice and the confidence he has with the puck. He makes everyone around him better as well. He had a great series, and I wished him the best at the Memorial Cup.”

Danford captained the Oshawa Generals to the OHL final, where they lost to London for the second consecutive year. The 19-year-old recorded five goals and 25 points in 61 regular season games, before adding two goals and five points in 21 playoff contests. Danford was selected 31st overall by the Maple Leafs and is a rising star within their prospect pool.

Danford joined Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill on Friday’s edition of Leafs Morning Take where he explained his approach to the game and expressed his admiration for Maple Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev.

“The way he plays, he’s someone who blocks a lot of shots, plays the right way, has a really good first pass,” Danford said of Tanev. “As someone who was going through the draft process last year that I kind of looked up to, I saw comparisons in our game and what maybe I could be at the next level. For him to be in Toronto now, I got to meet him in training camp. He was really cool and a really down-to-Earth guy. I hope to learn some stuff off him, hopefully soon.”

The full list of OHL All-Star teams can be found here.