Cowan, coming off a standout season full of accolades, is already back in the gym, gearing up for the 2024-25 season.
Just five days removed from the Toronto Maple Leafs’ development camp and one of the club’s most promising prospects, Easton Cowan, is already hitting the gym.
Near his hometown of Mount Brydges in Southwestern Ontario, Cowan is spending the summer months leading up to training camp at a facility called ‘Epic Sports Centre’ in Komoka. In a post on the company’s Instagram account Friday, the image unveils Cowan working out with a medicine ball in an agility drill, where he presumably alternates jumping from side to side on one foot while holding the 14-pound ball.
The post is captioned, “Preparation and hard work definitely pay off! Another year passes and absolutely NO ONE touches the record @eastoncowan.7 set at the NHL Combine for pro agility! #ThisIsEPIC.”
What the description is referring to is the Pro Agility Test from last year’s NHL Combine, where Cowan set a record with times of 4.04 on his left side and a 4.09 time on his right side.
According to Sportsnet, the testing is as follows: “The 5-10-5 yard shuttle (or 15-30-15 feet) evaluates multi-directional speed, agility and whole body reaction, plus control. Each player will perform one sequence starting to the right and one sequence starting to the left.”
Sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/2023-nhl-combine-results-top-10-prospects-in-every-drill/
Cowan is coming off a season filled with team and individual accolades in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The right-winger was awarded the OHL’s Red Tilson Trophy for the Most Outstanding Player after his stellar play in the 2023-24 regular season. His campaign was highlighted by a 36-game point streak (42 games if you include the postseason) that stretched from November 25th, 2023, to March 24th, 2024 – the longest point streak since Bill Bowler in 1994-95.
The ‘Cowboy’ set a career-high 96 points in 54 regular season games, surpassing his previous 53-point total in 2022-23. He led the London Knights to an OHL championship (the J. Ross Robertson Cup) and a Memorial Cup Final berth. During the playoffs, Cowan led the league with 34 points (10G, 24A) and earned the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as OHL Playoff MVP.
With little left to prove at the junior level, and continuing to shine at this year’s development camp, Cowan is focused on making the Leafs’ roster this season. On Sunday, the final day of the camp, Cowan stated, "I want to make the team. That's always been my goal. I want to play in the NHL one day, and I'm feeling very confident, so I've just got to come into camp, be a very reliable player, someone the coach can trust. I've just got to learn game management a bit better, and I think I'll be good."
As the Leafs' first-round pick (28th overall) in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, he has exceeded expectations thus far and continued to impress over the five-day event last week.
At this point in July, the Leafs are still looking to address their look upfront, and offensively, there could be more of an opportunity for a player like Cowan. Fraser Minten, who was drafted in the second round (38th overall) in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, made the team out of training camp in his second year – similar to Cowan’s current situation. Besides, given he is ineligible to play for the Marlies due to his 19-year-old status, his options are either the Leafs or the Knights for the 2024-25 season.
He’s proven people wrong before, and there’s every reason to believe he could do it again.
Regardless, Cowan appears to be taking the necessary steps to do so and it likely will not be the last we see him preparing for the upcoming season. Time will tell whether the first-round pick can secure a roster spot, but his unwavering confidence will prove to be a determining factor come September.
