The Leafs may not have a lot of prospects but the ones they have sure seem to be doing well. Easton Cowan’s London Knights are having one hell of a playoff run even by London Knights standards and now he has a little icing on his cake as the OHL has recognized Cowan as the league’s top player this season.
2024 #OHLAwards 🏆:
Turning heads with a @LondonKnights franchise record 36-game point streak as part of a 96-point season, @MapleLeafs first round #NHLDraft pick Easton Cowan is the 2023-24 recipient of the Red Tilson Trophy as the #OHL‘s Most Outstanding Player.
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) May 2, 2024
It is about 10 months removed from the collective “who?” when Cowan was selected by the Leafs at the draft. Cowan wasn’t favoured in the draft rankings and as such it looked like the Leafs might be reaching on an undersized forward when there were more recognized names on the board. While I wouldn’t go so far to say that he was written off, the reaction for the frequently reactionary fanbase was lukewarm and it seemed like Cowan immediately went to work changing minds.
Cowan on Marner, who won the Red Tilson Trophy in 2016: “Marner was someone I looked up to at camp this year. He always talked to me a lot and he still texts me to this day … it’s pretty cool to know my name is in the same category as him.” #Leafs
— Terry Koshan 🇺🇦 (@koshtorontosun) May 2, 2024
Cowan’s hard-nosed hockey, mixed with agitation and skill, drawing comparisons to Brad Marchand and Darcy Tucker changed the narrative and a memorable showing in his first Leafs camp along with unexpectantly earning a spot on the Canadian World Junior roster showed that scouts had either slept on the player or didn’t see enough of Cowan to be as confident as the Leafs were. Taking a chance and swinging for the fences is what you want your amateur scouting team to do and it paid off, probably more than they anticipated.
Cowan went on an unprecedented scoring streak this season and finished the year with 34 goals and 96 points in 54 games for the Knights. He has 4 goals, 14 points in his 12 playoff games as the Knights sit one win away from the OHL finals.
Easton Cowan is been a bright part of the Knights’ season and looks to have elevated himself to being the top prospect in the Leafs’ system. It is reasonable to expect that Cowan will be capable of pushing for spot on the Leafs roster next season. The Leafs could always use more sandpaper and secondary scoring, and it seems that Cowan might be ready to provide that.
Easton Cowan and the London Knights can close out the Saginaw Spirit on Friday Night at 7pm ET.
Data sourced from CHL.ca
