​The Toronto Maple Leafs have been busy this offseason, and a young forward could be poised to claim a major role this year. Easton Cowan stands out as one of the organization’s top recent prospects, having just completed his first full NHL season. He flashed enough capability to suggest a future as a top-six forward, a view echoed by NHL analyst Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, who sees Cowan as a dark horse candidate to lock into a top-six slot and take a substantial leap forward.
“The definite dark horse in this bunch,” Siegel wrote. “Cowan didn’t get a long chance with Matthews last season—roughly 100 minutes or so—but he showed glimpses of something when he did play, serving as a puck-hounding, playmaking sidekick. He could fit on a wide range of top-line combinations. That Knies–Matthews–Cowan trio only logged 56 minutes, yet it posted an 61 percent expected goals share. I’d expect Cowan to be a regular in the top six by the end of next season. A 20-goal, 40-point campaign feels well within reach. On a per-82-game pace for a rookie, he put up 14 goals and 36 points.” Such a prediction from Siegel carries a positive outlook: if Cowan secures a spot in the top six or even on a top line with Auston Matthews, it would deepen the lineup by allowing William Nylander to move to the second line. Last season, Cowan finished with 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points across 66 games.
The Maple Leafs have a wealth of options for deploying their forward group. If Cowan is used on the top line, a possible lineup could look like this:
– McKenna – Matthews – Cowan
– Knies – Tavares – Nylander
– Knies – Paul – Roslovic
– Blueger – Sissons – Duhaime
Of course, Cowan could easily interchange with Roslovic to form a checking line alongside Knies and Paul. Regardless of the configuration, new Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller has a range of deployment choices, and GM John Chayka feels the team is notably better positioned than last season.
“I think we got a lot done. Full credit to the team,” Chayka said on July 1. “We needed to make some significant changes to the roster construction. There were roles we needed to fill, and we needed to create some depth. Through the spine of our team now, we feel a lot better about our center position through the defense. Obviously, we added Raddysh a little earlier, so it doesn’t quite feel like the free-agent piece, but it was. Now, our portfolio of goaltenders, we feel great about. Any time you can enter a season feeling better about the spine, it gives you a baseline to build from.”
The Maple Leafs’ major offseason moves appear largely complete. Since taking the reins, Chayka has overhauled the roster in a bid to bolster the team’s depth and potential. Toronto’s offseason moves include: winning the draft lottery and selecting Gavin McKenna first overall; signing and trading for Darren Raddysh on an eight-year, $68 million deal; trading Ersson to the Senators for a 2027 fifth-round pick; and the headlining goal of the move—trading Bra for better SEO. The result is a lineup and a plan that suggest the team is primed for a more competitive season with added depth and flexibility across its forward corps.