Prospect Info: 2023 1st Rd Selection - #28 OA (via BOS, WSH) - C, Easton Cowan [London Knights, OHL; [Height 5.11 -- Weight 185]
- Thread starter uncleben
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This kid really turned it on in the OHL playoffs for the Knights. Hard working, 2 way...hes the type of player Toronto used to love.
supermann_98
Registered User
John Druce had a great playoffs one year way back when but that didn't make him what you'd call a good player, he just got hot for one small stretch.
I guess time will tell, but Treliving to me has signed Holmberg and that's like the only thing he's done I actually like so far.
What does this pick have to do with Treliving? He’s been here for like 3 weeks. You really think he had an opinion on this pick? Come on now
AcerComputer
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- Aug 4, 2014
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Because people still think GMs draft hockey players, and not their multi-million dollar scouting dept.
TMLBlueandWhite
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- Feb 2, 2023
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The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to show why they are so much smarter than the other 31 teams in the NHL.
Under Wes Clark as head of amateur scouting, the Leafs have typically drafted a scoring forward with their first pick, regardless of what round it is in. It doesn't matter if the player is undersized, can't skate backwards, or has any other deficiencies in his game. If he can put the puck in the net, draft him.
Clearly that philosophy hasn't changed since Dubas left.
I don't know anything about Cowan other than what I've just read. His ceiling appears to be lower than previous reaches by the NHL's smartest front office. He's looks to be more of the same of what they have drafted plenty of already.
So much for diversification.
Another master class in asset management, Toronto Maple Leafs style.
Under Wes Clark as head of amateur scouting, the Leafs have typically drafted a scoring forward with their first pick, regardless of what round it is in. It doesn't matter if the player is undersized, can't skate backwards, or has any other deficiencies in his game. If he can put the puck in the net, draft him.
Clearly that philosophy hasn't changed since Dubas left.
I don't know anything about Cowan other than what I've just read. His ceiling appears to be lower than previous reaches by the NHL's smartest front office. He's looks to be more of the same of what they have drafted plenty of already.
So much for diversification.
Another master class in asset management, Toronto Maple Leafs style.
'Bit of a surprise': Maple Leafs draft local Easton Cowan in Round 1
The Maple Leafs took a swing on a local product in Easton Cowan with their 28th pick, a player set to brin g a "hounding mentality" to his new club.
The 18-year-old looks up to Knights icon Marner and tries to model his game after Nazem Kadri and James van Riemsdyk, whose net-front play Cowan admires. (“He’s got that JVR play everyone knows,” Cowan says.)
Scouts describe the 5-foot-11, 170-pound left shot as a high-energy playmaker who plays with an edge and is willing to dig in the corners.
Clark targeted the 18-year-old for his hockey sense and competitiveness.
Cowan believes his “hounding mentality” made him an attractive pick. He prides himself on leadership and hard work.
“I really hound pucks. My 200-foot game. And using my skating ability and hockey sense,” he said. “I want to work on getting bigger, work on my shot, and you can always get better.”
A mild surprise to go off the board in Round 1, Cowan was the 51st-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.
But the Maple Leafs don’t pick Thursday until the fifth round, and there’s no way he would’ve been available so late.
Because his conversations with Toronto’s brass at the Buffalo combine went so well, Cowan has a hunch the Leafs were interested.
Though he put up impressive regular season numbers in 2022-23 — 20 goals, 33 assists and a plus-10 rating in 68 games — Cowan figures his explosive postseason (21 points in 20 games) and being surrounded by winners upped his stock.
“A bit of surprise, but I’m really thankful to be drafted by the Leafs. I can’t wait to get down there and see what it’s all about,” Cowan said.
“It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
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ktownhockey
Registered User
Fine with the pick, watched him enough to know there's something there. I just think Hiedt would have been a good one. That being said, I am totally expecting Cowan to have a great year in London and still has room for growth. He just turned 18.
Totally different players and career trajectories IMO
Maple Leafs dip into the London pipeline to find first-rounder Easton Cowan
Winger wasn’t projected for the first round but Leafs liked his growth and his upside.
www.thestar.com
The day ended with the Leafs taking Cowan, on the advice of head scout Wes Clark, with the 28th pick in the draft.
“He's a guy who developed well the second half of the year,” Treliving told Sportsnet. “He had a big playoff. He's taken a big step this year. Big motor, real competitive kid. We think there's an upside there.”
The Leafs value hockey IQ and competitiveness while taking the approach of grabbing the best player available. Cowan wasn't rated nearly as high by others — he was rated anywhere from 34th to 102nd on various scouting lists — but the Knights, who produced Mitch Marner, are known for developing talent.
“I've been dreaming of this moment,” Cowan told Sportsnet. “Especially the Leafs. It's a moment I'll never forget. It means a lot. I'm excited to be a Leaf.”
Cowan is a hard-working, 200-foot player. The native of Mount Brydges, Ont., near London, is five-foot-10 and 170 pounds and scored 20 goals in 68 games.
Cowan told reporters in Nashville he models his game after Nazem Kadri, another former Leaf who played with the Knights.
“He is one of the most improved players in the entire draft class and was arguably one of London’s best players in their playoff run,” said Mark Seidel, chief scout for the independent North American Central Scouting. “Has some bite to his game and isn’t afraid of the dirty areas. Nice combination of jam and skill.”
The Leafs might have gotten Cowan later, but no team was willing to trade. The first round of the draft went in order, without any team moving up or moving down. So teams like the Leafs, who went off the board a bit, were left to draft by their list.
Cowan as a first-rounder was mildly surprising, but generally was well accepted.
Former Leafs defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo, now a TSN broadcaster, tweeted Cowan “was London’s best player” in the OHL final against Peterborough.
Scouting services like Cowan, as well. “He creates opportunities by outspeeding and outdangling the opposition,” EliteProspets.com wrote. “Cowan's hockey sense matches the quickness in his feet, he's able to link passing plays in transition, manipulate defensive gaps with clever movements and feints, and find pockets of space in the slot.”
Iq and good transitions seem to be the theme for leafs prospects. The early birthday (may) factors in as well. At least ohl games are easy to find.
Both strongest assets appear to be their high compete levels. Outside of that they both play 200' games and we're picked a bit ahead of what they were supposed to be. Seems the leafs are really targeting high "compete" players.
capfit9
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- Oct 29, 2009
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keonsbitterness
Registered User
Leafs should have traded down!
Leafs should have traded down!
Leafs should have traded down!
Leafs should have traded down!
You can tell how easy that would have been by all the other teams that traded down in the first round.
Good luck to the kid.
Leafs should have traded down!
Leafs should have traded down!
Leafs should have traded down!
You can tell how easy that would have been by all the other teams that traded down in the first round.
Good luck to the kid.
Why the Maple Leafs went off the board to select 'Cowboy' Easton Cowan
Behind the weird precedent that led to new GM Brad Treliving's absence from the Leafs' draft table and the surprise pick that ensued.
theathletic.com
Treliving checked in with Ryan Hardy, Brandon Pridham, Brendan Shanahan, and of course, Clark, seated to his right. He picked up the phone again and again. It looked a lot like the Leafs might trade down.
Instead, the front office now led by Treliving, but not led by him at the draft, walked to the stage where Treliving stepped out of the way and let Clark announce Cowan, a projected second-round pick by The Athletic’s Corey Pronman.
Was it a Treliving pick? A pick that former GM Kyle Dubas might have made? What was it about Cowan that appealed to the Leafs? And what was the deal with Treliving having to sit out the first half of the first round in the first place?
‘Cowboy’
Moments after he first met Dale Hunter, the longtime Knights head coach gave Easton Cowan a nickname that stuck.
“Cowboy.”
Born in Strathroy, Ont., Cowan comes from a farm in nearby Mount Brydges where his family farms cash crops like wheat, corn and soybeans. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and Cowan’s time in high school classes became limited, he began working on the farm from 6:30 in the morning till 9 at night during the busy farming seasons of spring and fall, driving a tractor beside the massive combine his father Chris uses to transfer crops.
“It’s the time you have to put in to succeed in the cash crop business of farming,” Chris told The Athletic.
That time on the farm helped instill a work ethic, as well as good ol’ farm strength, that Cowan has made his hallmark as a Knight. Ahead of the draft, Clark was clear: The Leafs wanted players who had intelligence, competitiveness and who could “influence winning hockey.”
Clark and the team’s scouting staff appear to have found a player who ticks those boxes.
“It’s a great picture of what (Cowan) could be in the NHL,” Knights associate general manager Rob Simpson said. “His motor and his engine on the ice, he is relentless and never stops working. And he’s the type of player that if you want him to play higher in your lineup with skilled guys and bring competitiveness and forechecking and skill, he can do that. If you want him to play a defensive game and play the penalty kill, he can do those things.”
That versatility was evident as the Knights went to the OHL final this season. During that playoff run that Simpson called “impactful,” Cowan’s game shone. The Leafs valued how he played in the playoffs, lapping up the spotlight and the pressure while leading all OHL rookies in playoff scoring with 21 points in 20 games.
It was his hockey sense, which shined with quick passing in the offensive zone, that popped in the playoffs. That hints at his potential for producing offence as he continues to develop.
Even though his smallish frame may remind some of past Leafs picks, it’s the fact that he’s become known as a “puck hound” according to Simpson that might well separate him from those picks. His competitiveness is well-established.
Cowan grew up a Leafs fan and said he models his game after Nazem Kadri.
Simpsons remembers games this year where Cowan would pinball from one defenceman to the other on the forecheck. He wouldn’t stop there. He chased after the puck wherever it went.
“He’s just relentless all over the ice at trying to get the puck and when he has it, he doesn’t want to give it up,” Simpson said.
Trapper
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- Nov 21, 2013
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I still do.
You can win with a complete team of these.
Add in 1 C, 1 big D and a goalie. Golden.
leafs in five
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He is far from the smaller player we have drafted before . He's the kind of player that team hate to play against a never give up attitude. He will do anything to get the puck back.
Hoglund4MvP
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- Jan 26, 2022
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He's pretty good for the play style we need. 99% of the prospects you guys prefer will bust so what's the problem. Its pick 28. We know nothing
Macman
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- May 15, 2004
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I’m getting a bit of a Darcy Tucker vibe from this guy and we’ve sorely missed someone like that for a long time. He’s probably nowhere near as big a dirt bag as Tucker was, but who is these days? We can’t complain about a lack of compete every year in the playoffs, then complain when we draft someone who clearly has it.
He’s with a good program in London and I’m looking forward to watching him next year and beyond.
He’s with a good program in London and I’m looking forward to watching him next year and beyond.
Wes Clarke knows he s done
Let's let the kids play out .he was good in the OHL playoffs
If we works hard all u can ask
There was no deal to be made. There were zero trades at the draft. That tells you all you need to know. Teams were/are not interested in giving away their draft capital.
Peasy
Registered User
I've been saying it for a long time but this draft is extremely wide open. There are so many players that could rank anywhere from 10-60 on people's list.
So many people freaking out we didn't take "BPA". Well I bet you he was the BPA on their list. Just because he wasn't on yours, or a buncha other internet scouts lists doesn't mean he wasn't on theirs or possibly other teams.
They obviously really like him. People saying to trade back, it's highly plausible someone else would have taken him.
Never seen so many people freak out over a player they've never watched before, but I guess that's par for the course here.
Like simashev went 6th. I've seen most of the internet scouts putting him in the late teens or 20s, yet I've seen some other people be extremely high on him.
So many people freaking out we didn't take "BPA". Well I bet you he was the BPA on their list. Just because he wasn't on yours, or a buncha other internet scouts lists doesn't mean he wasn't on theirs or possibly other teams.
They obviously really like him. People saying to trade back, it's highly plausible someone else would have taken him.
Never seen so many people freak out over a player they've never watched before, but I guess that's par for the course here.
Like simashev went 6th. I've seen most of the internet scouts putting him in the late teens or 20s, yet I've seen some other people be extremely high on him.
Macman
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- May 15, 2004
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God, how many times does someone have to point out that Treliving was shown on the phone just before the pick. There obviously wasn’t a trade to be made. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t talking to his wife. 
