Easton Cowan is ready to prove himself in the NHL with the Maple Leafs

Easton Cowan has one thing that drives him.

“I want to play in the NHL. That’s been my goal since day one,” the 2023 first-round pick and one of the most notable participants in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ development camp said Wednesday.

Last season, the electric winger earned a spot in the NHL when he stayed in training camp longer than expected to work out with professional players and learn valuable lessons about life in the league. The confidence he gained from that experience, his unparalleled work ethic and dynamic offensive zone play helped him win every personal award and team championship imaginable in the OHL last season.

Cowan has shown he is ready for the next step in his career.

In doing so, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving made it clear he wanted to add another forward to the team for next season.

And now, as helpful as development camp can be to get a glimpse into a player’s development, the only way to know if he can handle the next step in his career is to play NHL games.

In the fall, there should be no question of sending Cowan back to the OHL. Instead, the Leafs’ top prospect should have every opportunity to become one of the forwards added to the Leafs’ lineup in the opening game and then play a healthy number of games to start the season.

“We think we have some young players coming through, but we certainly don’t want to start bringing in young players if they’re not ready,” Treliving said.

This isn’t about giving Cowan a chance to start the season by putting him on the Leafs roster. Throughout his season, Cowan has demonstrated the qualities this revamped Leafs management and coaching staff is looking for: a fiery competitor, relentless on the puck and not afraid to get involved physically.

This isn’t about putting a square in a round hole. The Leafs seem to have an organizational philosophy toward players that extends from the draft table to the coaching staff to the rink. Cowan, especially when you add his natural playmaking abilities, embodies that.

“I just see it as (Cowan) not being denied,” said Hayley Wickenheiser, the Leafs’ assistant general manager of player development.

At development camp, Cowan looks bigger than he did last season, having bulked up. He also looks older, admitting his flaws from day one in a way many young players wouldn’t.

“Don’t let the last shift get you down. I felt like in my draft year I was letting myself down a little too much. I’ve seen some progress this year where I’ve been growing and playing with confidence every shift,” Cowan said of his progress.

What Cowan showed during his MVP season with the London Knights was how much of an impact he could have when it mattered.

He didn’t hesitate to connect with other players and played with a physicality that not all players possess. Cowan added creative offensive touches to his puck play, which allowed him to lead the OHL in playoff points. And his attention to detail, while still being a hungry penalty killer, has improved, making him appear more and more ready to take down a player at the next level.

“He’s got a lot to learn: the pace of the game, and he may not be able to get away with things like long stretches of play,” Wickenheiser said. “But those things can be learned and fixed. But you can’t teach him the passion and the drive to influence a game the way he does.”

When Matthew Knies went straight from the NCAA to the NHL, there were times when he was just keeping his head above water. But ultimately, putting him in the NHL and letting him figure out the league as he played was the right decision. Knies’ success shouldn’t be an isolated case with the Leafs, as it has been in recent years. Knies’ ability to come to the NHL full of confidence (which Cowan and Fraser Minten have after strong junior seasons) should serve as a model.

This is an organization that seems so resistant to change that giving Minten four NHL games, well over a year after he was drafted, was arguably the story to follow to start last season.

It shouldn’t be: The Stanley Cup finalist Edmonton Oilers also had a very heavy roster with some high-paid forwards. They needed cheap players who could relieve the salary cap and fill a role, just like Cowan. And the Oilers still gave playoff ice time to two of their top prospects, Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, neither of whom had a full season of NHL experience under their belts.

The arguments that both players were drafted higher than Cowan don’t hold water: if you’ve played your way to the top of a team’s prospect pool, it doesn’t matter which NHL team didn’t pick you years earlier.

“I think Cowan has some resentment because he wasn’t drafted higher. I think he feels like he’s proving people wrong every time he’s on the ice,” Wickenheiser said.

Nick Robertson, after all, was a second-round pick in the 2019 draft and was for a time the Leafs’ top prospect. And right now, the Leafs would be wise to avoid having another young player question his role on the team, as Robertson appears to be doing.

The Leafs rarely have access to early draft picks. There’s more to be gained by giving young, domestically-grown players regular playing time and allowing them to develop as the coaching staff and management want, rather than filling the gaps with, pardon the term, random players on one-year contracts.

Would players like Cowan, Robertson and Minten make more mistakes on the ice early in the season than, say, recently signed Cedric Pare? Probably.

“(Cowan) is still maturing, so he has a little bit of naivety, which I think prepares him because he’s fearless on the ice,” Wickenheiser said.

Would the opportunity to learn from these mistakes make them better players in the long run? Choose a stronger term than probablySending Cowan back to a league without challenges or opportunities for growth will not benefit him as a player.

There are enough talented players on this roster to keep the playoffs from being out of reach. The Leafs can afford to give Cowan a season at the bottom of the lineup. If the Leafs want to create sustainable success on their roster and avoid having to rely on overpaid players as free agents, a critical step is to start giving players like Cowan regular playing opportunities early in the season.

Yes, Cowan needs to show he can earn a spot in training camp. But the Leafs would do well to provide him with a path to that spot as well. Dangling an open roster spot in front of him could remind him of his importance to the organization while simultaneously raising expectations around him.

“(Cowan) loves to be in those big moments,” Wickenheiser said. “You want players like that, who don’t hold back.”

Cowan has proven he can reach the highest heights in junior hockey. He has nothing left to prove outside of the OHL.

And as intriguing as his play at development camp was this week, for the benefit of the Leafs organization, it should just be a precursor to his first NHL games in October.

“I know in his mind he wants to play in the NHL next year,” Wickenheiser said. “And that’s, of course, what we’d like him to be able to do. But he’s got to be able to come in here, earn his spot and contribute night in and night out.”

(Top photo: Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)