Maple Leafs’ prospect caps OHL playoff ride with MVP honours
OSHAWA — Ride ’em cowboy.
Easton Cowan, the London Knights star and top Maple Leafs prospect, put some superb finishing touches on the Ontario Hockey League final on Wednesday night.
The kid they call Cowboy scored a power-play goal and had three assists as the Knights trampled the Oshawa Generals 7-1 at the Tribute Communities Centre, driving London to a four-game sweep in the bestof-seven OHL championship series.
The Knights won the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the fifth time in team history and first since 2016. They’re off to the Memorial Cup in Saginaw, Mich., starting on May 24.
“It’s crazy … I don’t even know what to say right now, to be honest,” Cowan said on the ice during the post-game bedlam, referring to the past 11 months since he was selected by the Leafs in the first round of the National Hockey League draft. “It means a lot (to be OHL champion), it means a ton. It’s a great feeling. It’s nuts. I’m very happy, I’m very proud of this team. We came a long way.”
If you’re optimistic about the potential for Cowan to crack the Leafs roster out of training camp in the fall and making an impact at forward once the 2024-25 regular season starts, there’s a solid foundation for that.
Think of what Cowan’s presence in the lineup would do for the Leafs financially. Considering Cowan’s contract carries an average annual value of just $935,833 US, the Leafs would love nothing more than to have him on the opening-night roster and beyond.
Cowan won the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the most valuable player in the OHL playoffs. Not only did he lead all scorers with 34 points (10 goals and 24 assists) in 18 games, Cowan exploited the Generals at every turn in the final, recording 15 points (three goals and 12 assists) in four games. This after Cowan won the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL’S regular-season most outstanding player.
“He’s a complete player,” Knights coach Dale Hunter said as he watched his players celebrate. “Had him playing centre, wing, right wing, kills penalties, plays the power play … that’s how you win championships. He helped out with all the young guys going through this. He’s a team player.”
Cowan’s 2023-24 season follows a similar path to the one that Mitch Marner took with the Knights in 2015-16. After the Leafs picked Marner fourth overall in the 2015 draft, the Markham native won the Red Tilson Trophy and then captured the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the Knights won the OHL title. Marner then was named the Memorial Cup MVP as the Knights went 4-0 to win the Cup in Red Deer, Alta.
Will Cowan and Marner be teammates in 2024-25? Given the Leafs’ apparent desire to make changes to their core, that might not happen.
Some eyebrows were raised when the Leafs called Cowan’s name with the 28th overall pick last June in Nashville. When Cowan appeared in mock drafts, his name was listed in the lower rounds, certainly not in the first.
That mattered not at all to Cowan, who shone at the Leafs’ development camp during the summer and then made a mark in camp and the pre-season, when he was among Toronto’s final cuts.
During the past several months, he matured physically as most 18-year-olds do, and a 36-game point streak by Cowan to end the regular season served notice that he was probably going to be a force once the playoffs started.
As the Knights swept Flint and Kitchener and beat Saginaw in six games in the Western Conference final before ganging up on the Generals, Cowan’s influence grew game by game.
Cowan’s 2023-24 season follows a similar path to the one that Mitch Marner took with the Knights in 2015-16.