Cowan a fit on the Leafs, Laughton injury fallout, and the workload for Stolarz: Leaflets

And then there was one. Saturday night’s game against the Red Wings marks the end of the Maple Leafs’ preseason and the final activity left will be publishing the starting roster for 2025-26. It’s exciting and there are some legitimate tough decisions to make and a strong possibility that some current Leafs could be starting the year in a uniform that doesn’t include a Leafs or even Marlies jersey.

Here are some thoughts ending into the close of the preseason:

Cowan starting with the Leafs is the right call

All signs point to Easton Cowan earning a spot on the Maple Leafs fourth line to start the year. A good opportunity to give him a sheltered start in the NHL and the line is good enough to take a regular shift as they won’t be a burden if caught out against another team’s top six forward group, although that is less true when replacing Laughton with Kampf (given that he is on waivers at the time of writing this, he may or may not be an option) or any other option the Leafs might deploy.

Potentially there could be some special teams opportunities for Cowan as well and given the amount of question marks up and down the Leafs lineup there is a path forward for Cowan if things go well. All of these signs point to keeping Cowan on the Leafs.

Still, it’s worth acknowledging the potential pitfalls that the Leafs need to keep track of and determine if the NHL will continue to be the right fit for him. If Cowan’s ice time starts dropping below ten minutes a night, there probably should be a reassessment of whether keeping him around makes sense.

If Craig Berube starts regularly rotating Cowan through the press box in order to get icetime for whomever of Kampf, Jarnkrok, Robertson, etc. is in that mix, it’s probably better to give Cowan a regular shift in the AHL.

Instinctually, I’d say that giving Cowan an honest run of a couple of weeks of hockey before even considering taking him out of the lineup, otherwise there isn’t much point in having him start with the Leafs. Let the rookie get a feel for regular season, higher level of competition hockey and if it’s not going well, you’ve at least learned enough about what Easton needs to work on before he’s ready to return to the Maple Leafs.

If the intention is that Cowan will be platooning through the lineup, at least have a plan for him to be in the AHL for the stretches of time he won’t be playing so he can get more minutes on the Marlies.

Things are certainly complicated by the number of players challenging Cowan for his roster spot but the Leafs need to make sure that what is best for the team and Cowan long term are factoring into their short term decisions and right now it’s exciting that the best thing for him is to play in the NHL.

The Leafs schedule allows for Stolarz to hold the net for a while

Joseph Woll’s absence from the Leafs has been one of the biggest shocks this preseason and as impactful as his absence is from the Leafs it’s hard not have your mind drift towards the serious things that could be keeping Woll from the team and hope for the best in regard to his personal situation.

From a hockey perspective, the Leafs schedule allows for Stolarz to hold the net and even for Hildeby to function as a backup during this time.

Of the 11 games in October, there are three back-to-backs. The three back-to-backs might seem like a lot, but an 8-3 split in starts at the beginning of the year is a reasonable workload for Stolarz.

The three back-t0-backs are Red Wings and Predators, a pair of games against the Sabres, and a Flames/Blue Jackets set. The Predators, Sabres, and Flames all look like reasonable starts for Hildeby (I would have included the Blue Jackets but they very much had Hildeby’s number last season.)

November includes one back-to-back featuring the Bruins and Hurricanes in the middle of the month but there isn’t another back-to-back until the end of the month, which could lend itself to Stolarz continuing as the workhorse through the beginning part of the season and whether it is playing Hildeby or slowly bringing Woll back into the fold, the Leafs aren’t faced with a need to sign James Reimer as a stop gap, especially since the Leafs also have an interesting option to explore with Artur Akhtyamov that might be worth a brief look as well.

If the Leafs are wanting to put in a stop gap it might make more sense at the AHL level. And it’s worth noting that the Leafs’ ignored Pheonix Copley and Connor Ingram being put on waivers, so it seems unlikely that the Leafs are anticipating being without Woll far into the season.

The Leafs without Laughton

Scott Laughton seemed to be looking forward to coming into the season with something to prove and having acknowledged that his post trade deadline time last year with the Maple Leafs should have gone a lot better, having a motivated player who looked like he was slated to start the year with the organization’s top rookie on his wing generated more excitement than you normally get for a fourth line.

Laughton’s redemption tour has been put on hold and with that comes a pretty reasonable question about what makes sense for the Leafs in his absence?

I’m not sure you pull the plug on Cowan in the Leafs lineup just because the centre he was playing with is gone but other options like Kampf (assuming he has cleared waivers) or Lorentz as the 4C don’t exactly give the same opportunity for Cowan to explore his offensive game, and while Jarnkrok as centre could also be an option, that seems unlikely given the lack of time spent at that position over the past three years.

Lorentz’s time at centre has also been fairly limited. Mentioning him as an option isn’t that far off of considering Jarnkrok as option.

Maybe the question is more of whether the Leafs are looking at Kampf or Quillan as the interim solution.

The Leafs know what they think of Kampf, he is on waivers for a reason despite Laughton’s injury. If Laughton was hurt next week and Kampf is claimed, it likely would be Quillan stepping into the fourth line role at centre. Maybe this is an opportunity to stay the course and see what Quillan can do or if not him, other Marlies depth like Boyd or Haymes.

Quillan showed promise last year and if Cowan sees time on the Marlies this season, that is potentially a duo that would be working together. Quillan’s two way game is a closer replacement to the style that Laughton plays and presumably the way that Craig Berube wants the fourth line to play. He’s a more physical option than Kampf and if he’s playing a style similar to Laughton it’s easier to see the fit with Lorentz as well.

There’s something to be said for Kampf making the most of what be his last chance with the Leafs if he clears and if he can step up and play like he did in his first season in Toronto, we might still be talking the miracle that is Kampf still being a Leaf next summer.

The thing is with Robertson and Jarnkrok being on the Leafs roster and the Leafs not necessarily wanting to risk losing them, the situation becomes more complicated. The best course of action might be a Lorentz-Jarnkrok-Cowan fourth line and it becomes more about sheltering and line blending to make it work. I’m sure the Leafs would love to find a path for Robertson back into the lineup as well if there isn’t serious trade talk on him at the moment.

Laughton’s injury makes the Leafs depth situation even more interesting, and the final preseason game will answer some questions both about what way the Leafs are leaning and based on how the game goes whether or not they need to try something different.