Prospect Info: 2023 1st Rd Selection - #28 OA (via BOS, WSH) - C, Easton Cowan [London Knights, OHL; [Height 5.11 -- Weight 185]

The draft has been the best time, no bickering, no fighting, everyone was having a good time in the GDT, and people were discussing hockey things and not if Dubas has fake glasses, it was lovely.
Lol. I wish i was there for that.

I do rank Marner/Nylander/Matthews' first season as leafs up there with happy/optimistic times. Super exciting when they clinched a playoff spot.
 
Why didn’t he play for the U18 team? That’s an easy team to make, 4th rounders make that team

Edit: oh he was in the playoffs, that’s good my bad
 
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Wanted Cristall with this selection. I always believe you draft skill and acquire competitiveness. That said, he seems to have been a late riser, which is always a good sign. Hopefully he can continue to develop and become that different look that we need in our prospect pool.
 
Wanted Cristall with this selection. I always believe you draft skill and acquire competitiveness. That said, he seems to have been a late riser, which is always a good sign. Hopefully he can continue to develop and become that different look that we need in our prospect pool.
To be fair, there’s a good bit of skill to go with that competitiveness, with Cowan. The offensive skills are still in process, but he showed what he’a capable of in the playoffs. He should be playing a more prominent role for the Knights this coming year, so we’ll have an idea pretty early if he was a good gamble
 
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Ok sorry that’s good to hear

All good. Hockey Canada has an agreement that they only send non playoff CHL players and junior A players to u-18 worlds.

USA Hockey has agreement they do not send NTDP players to Ivan Hilinka U 18’s in the summer.

He’ll be at the Summer World Junior Camp possibly.
 
Wanted Cristall with this selection. I always believe you draft skill and acquire competitiveness. That said, he seems to have been a late riser, which is always a good sign. Hopefully he can continue to develop and become that different look that we need in our prospect pool.
Competitiveness not the easiest trait to acquire.
 
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Seems many think he wasnt a first rounder. This is where trading all your picks really backfires, you end up swinging for the fences because you dont have a 2nd or a 3rd.
 
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I'm starting to really like Cowan after learning more about him. What I like most is his rapid development in the playoffs where it counts most. Cowan was one of their best postseason players in his first season playing for Dale Hunter. He's one of those dogs that doesn't want to lose puck battles despite his light weight.

Cowan is 170 lbs now but I'm guessing he'll add 15-20 lbs in the next 3-4 years. I'm hoping he is a Darcy Tucker type player which the Leafs really need.
 
a little 5 part thread from Upside Hockey on Leafs shiny new prospect:

I'm not a big fan of Button, but compared to what a lot of people call major sites (personally, I generally only care about Bob's list and the Black Book at this point, but good luck on your project) he absolutely is one and he had him at 34. So, I don't know what Jeffler is thinking with his tweet. It just sounds misinformed (or he has a weird definition of what he considers a major ranking). Button probably has the biggest platform of anyone not named Bob McKenzie.

I don't know if anyone had a legit "A" grade on him, but this draft for its supposed depth went pretty chalk in the top 27 (there were rapid depatures from consensus on where guys went, but they were generally already top 27). For example, every "A" grade was gone by our pick according to HockeyProspect's rankings.

Seems many think he wasnt a first rounder. This is where trading all your picks really backfires, you end up swinging for the fences because you dont have a 2nd or a 3rd.
This draft went pretty chalk in the top 27. I wouldn't be surprised if we only had B grades left, and the gap from 25-45 isn't massive. Historically, all drafts fall off a cliff around 10-15.
 
To be fair, there’s a good bit of skill to go with that competitiveness, with Cowan. The offensive skills are still in process, but he showed what he’a capable of in the playoffs. He should be playing a more prominent role for the Knights this coming year, so we’ll have an idea pretty early if he was a good gamble
I am starting to come around on the selection. I love having kids in our system that compete in the way he is reported to play. It isn't a skillset that is widely common nowadays with Gen-Z. I am definitely intrigued by his late rise, and the widespread sleeper analysis that surrounds him. We seem to hit more then we miss on those type of sleeper selections lately. Ie. Voit, Knies...etc

obviously not who I would have selected, but I do trust our scouting staff
 
The Maple Leafs were busy Wednesday, but the real action is still to come - NorthStar Bets

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The Leafs owned the 28th pick in the first round and had options to trade backward to add to their draft capital on Wednesday night.

Instead, they chose to select Easton Cowan from the OHL’s London Knights.

That was much sooner than when the 18-year-old winger was projected to be taken and a sign of how strongly his blend of intelligence and doggedness appealed to the team’s scouts.


Cowan made significant strides in the back half of his draft year and put up 21 points in 20 playoff games for the Knights.

While he could have potentially been available in the second round or even the third round, the Leafs weren’t scheduled to pick again until the fifth. They showed some conviction by taking him when they did.

Cowan received a FaceTime call from Marner almost immediately after the pick was made and told reporters that he counted Nazem Kadri among the players he idolized while growing up.

As it turns out, they’re both former Knights who became Maple Leafs mainstays after being drafted in the first round.

That’s a path Cowan will aim to follow.
 
General vibe after the season: we have too many skilled-type players to succeed in the playoffs.
General vibe after this pick: we should have drafted a skilled player with 1st-line potential.

This place is funny.

Yeah the #1 thing we were missing in the playoffs was a 5’10 170 winger. If we had a 5th one of those in the lineup things would have been different.
 
He's a player that really stepped up his game in the playoffs, which more than anything is what this team needs more of.

Size a problem? 5'9" 183 lbs. just won the Conn Smythe.

So while I absolutely don't believe it's a good idea to stock a roster with smaller players, I also wouldn't skip on one who shows some compete and willingness to go to the tough areas just because he's smaller.
 
the more I watch and read up on this player the better I feel about this pick. Seems like he has an excellent chance of becoming a real high end complete middle six forward. Not expecting him to make an impact anytime soon though, looks like he’s still 2 years away from being 2 years away.
 
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