Cowan uses CHL lessons to live up to high expectations with Maple Leafs

Easton Cowan has gotten used to being under the microscope over the past two seasons as one of the Toronto Maple Leafs top prospects.

The 6-foot winger was selected 28th overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2023 draft, which was considered an off-the-board selection by many draft prognosticators.

Cowan went on to show the hockey world why the Maple Leafs rated him so highly, recording 34 goals and 96 points in 54 games with the London Knights last season to win the Red Tilson Trophy as the Ontario Hockey League’s most outstanding player.

“It was super cool, I couldn’t have done that without my teammates,” said Cowan. “Obviously, it’s hard every night. You’re going to play against the top guys on the other team and they try to annoy you. But I was on  a great team last year and whatever line I was on could make plays.”

Cowan led the Knights to an OHL-best 50-14-4  record last season. He was even more valuable to his squad in the playoffs, recording 10 goals and 34 points in 18 games.

His efforts helped the Knights win the J. Ross Robertson Cup in a four-game sweep of the Oshawa Generals and he was presented with the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as playoff MVP.

“[Cowan] was unstoppable and dominated every single area in the playoffs and championship round,” TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button said prior to the Memorial Cup last year. “His game elevated from the regular season through the playoffs and went higher in the championship. It’s a rare thing.”

The 19-year-old had continued success in the Memorial Cup tournament, recording three goals and eight points in four games as the Knights swept through the round robin to advance to the Memorial Cup Final against the host Saginaw Spirit.

After going down 3-0 early in the championship, the Knights clawed their way back to tie the game with less than 10 minutes remaining in the third period. However, Spirit forward Josh Bloom scored the game winner with 22 seconds remaining in the period as the Knights suffered a heart-breaking defeat.

As a team looking for redemption, the Knights came into this season with 17 players returning from last year’s OHL championship squad. They want to return to the Memorial Cup and finish what they started.

“We have a lot of the same guys here and the guys who aren’t are rooting for us,” said Cowan. “Everyone wants to win, and everyone wants to buy into their roles. We know we have a good team here, but it comes down to competing hard every night.”

London clinched top spot in the OHL for the second straight year on Tuesday with a 7-3 win over the Guelph Storm. They enter Friday’s action with a 51-9-2 record with five games remaining and are 15 points ahead of the next-closest team in the Windsor Spitfires.

Cowan’s offensive numbers are not at the same levels as they were last season, but he has been a key component to the Knights, registering 27 goals and 63 points in 43 games.

Even though the overall numbers aren’t the same as last year, Cowan has been the picture of consistency since the second half of last season.

Cowan ended the 2023-24 regular season campaign on a 36-game point streak that saw him record 25 goals and 68 points during that span.

He then went on to begin this season with a 29-game point streak, putting up 18 goals and 40 points before it ended on Feb. 7.

The combined 65-game streak is an unofficial CHL record since it spans over two seasons. During his streak Cowan overtook Maple Leafs great Doug Gilmour for the longest point streak in OHL history (55 games) and Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemieux  for the longest in CHL history (61 games).

Despite being mentioned in legendary company, Cowan believes that he can’t compare himself to any of those guys just yet.

“Those are legends were talking about. I’m nowhere near that yet,” said Cowan. “I’ve got a lot of work to do to be able to compare myself to them.”

A player from Ontario being drafted to the Maple Leafs comes with a lot of pressure. Prior to the 2024 NHL Draft, TSN Hockey analyst Carlo Colaiacovo said on TSN1050’s FirstUp that his experience being drafted by the team in 2003 caused him to go from just a hockey prospect to local celebrity in a matter of hours.

Being a native of Mount Brydges, Ont., that is something Cowan can relate to, but he believes that the experience has helped him gain maturity.

“Obviously, being a Leafs prospect, there’s a lot of eyes on you,” said Cowan. “There’s obviously a lot of people watching wherever you go, and it’s matured me a lot over the last couple of years. I think growing up here in London has been good for me too.

“But being drafted to Toronto, which was a team I grew up cheering for, meant a lot to me.”

One of the things fans were keeping an eye on was how Cowan performed during his two training camps with the Maple Leafs.

After being drafted in 2023, Cowan appeared in four preseason games, impressing with a goal and three points.

His solid first NHL camp and his MVP season in the OHL led to fans watching to see if Cowan could press for a roster spot this year. He appeared in four preseason games, recording  two assists before being returned to London.

“There wasn’t too, too much difference between my first and second camp. The second camp had more pressure, but other than that it wasn’t too much,” said Cowan. “There was a different coach [Craig Berube] in the second year, so that changed a bit. But it was the same exhibition games and the same kind of practices.”

Cowan had a number of people who could look up to while with the Maple Leafs, including a number of Knights alumni.

Mitch Marner, Max Domi, John Tavares, and Auston Matthews were among the players he listed as guys who helped him out and showed him the kind of mindset and habits that he needs to have to play professional hockey.

“The London connection goes a long way,” said Cowan. “So Domi, Marner and Tavares were all really good to me. Matthews too. They were all in my shoes at one point, so it was great being able to hear from them and it means a lot for young guys like me for them to help me out.”

The microscope on Cowan extended beyond the Maple Leafs to the international stage after representing Canada the past two years at the World Juniors.

Cowan was expected to be a key cog up front for Team Canada in 2024 and 2025, but the team failed to find success, bowing out in the quarter-finals in both years to Czechia.

The Knights forward put up a goal and two points during the 2024 tournament in Sweden and a goal and three points at last year's event in Ottawa.

Despite the heartbreaking disappointment of losing both years, Cowan considers it another lesson and something that will help him grow on and off the ice.

"Obviously both years sucked, but it helped me grow as a person and mature as well," said Cowan. "It's a big stage up there and there's a lot of eyes watching. There's going to be haters, but there's also going to be people who love watching you play.

"I feel like it's matured me a lot. Like I said before, as a Leafs prospect you got a lot of eyes on you. It's been good for me. Obviously it wasn't the outcome that me and all Canadians wanted, but it is what it is."