Why sending down Easton Cowan was the right move

The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off their first three-game win streak of the year, with a third-period comeback against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday and a decisive victory over the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday. The Leafs have gotten off to a bumpy start, and part of the reason why is all the new faces in the lineup, including Easton Cowan.

With players returning to the lineup, such as Scott Laughton, Cowan was a healthy scratch for a few games. Clearly, Cowan was the odd one out and was sent down to the Toronto Marlies.

In this article, we will look at why this was the right decision for Cowan and for the Leafs.

Easton Cowan’s first NHL stint

Cowan is the Leafs’ best prospect, and he showed why by making the team right out of training camp. Cowan capped off a very strong junior career with back-to-back Memorial Cup championships heading into this year.

How Cowan made the team was not necessarily due to his offensive output in the preseason, but rather the development of his overall game. The criticism of Cowan was that he needed to develop the defensive side of his game. He has taken major strides with his development in this area.

Cowan started the season with the Leafs in the bottom-six. Although Cowan didn’t get any points, he did not stand out in a bad way. He looked like he belonged, especially with the size he put on in the offseason. 

Cowan got the opportunity to play on the first line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, and he looked even better. This is the development trajectory for Easton Cowan: top-six winger. In the 10 games Cowan played, he scored one goal and three assists for four points.

Better optimization of his development

It’s not that Cowan was bad in his first 10 NHL games; it’s that his time could be optimized. The Leafs need him to become a top-six winger. While he looked good on the first line, Cowan was getting limited power play time being on the second unit. In addition, the Leafs need to see what they have in Matias Maccelli, the promising offseason acquisition.

With how the current Leafs team is set up, Cowan would’ve likely been punted up and down the lineup. Playing in the top-six versus the bottom-six is very different and requires different skillsets. In the minors, he can get extended development at either role for large stretches at a time.

In the minors, Cowan will play the game like how star players play: He will get top-line minutes every night, he will also likely be on the first power play unit, and be used in situations that he wasn’t utilized for with the Leafs. Cowan will also be playing against men in the AHL, which will transition nicely into the NHL.

To make Cowan a better overall player, he needs some time to refine his game in the AHL. For the Leafs, they need to see what they have in Maccelli and Nick Robertson. These two players are at the breaking point in their careers, while Cowan is only 20 years old and is waiver-exempt.

Possible top-line options

Matias Maccelli

In 13 games, Maccelli has three goals and four assists for seven points. Extrapolated over 82 games, this works out to 19 goals, 25 assists for 44 points. This would be Maccelli’s third-best season in terms of points. However, Maccelli has been up and down in the lineup and has even been a healthy scratch.

We can see the toolset that Maccelli brings and why he scored 17 goals with 40 assists for 57 points with the Arizona Coyotes in 2023–24. He has an unreal passing ability and has shown some chemistry early on in the top-six. 

Maccelli’s skillset fits better in a top-six role than a bottom-six role. In his final year of a three-year, $3.45M AAV deal, the Leafs need an extended look at Maccelli to determine if he has a role on this team and should possibly re-sign him.

Nick Robertson‘s development

Robertson has had a turbulent development path on his way to being an NHL regular. He made his Leafs debut in the 2019–20 NHL season in the playoffs. He scored one goal in the four games that he played, and didn’t look out of place. 

However, Robertson suffered a series of bad injuries that saw him play limited games for both the Leafs and Marlies over the next three seasons. Combined with both clubs, Robertson played 27 games in 2020–21, 38 games in 2021–22, and 17 in 2022–23. Obviously, this threw a huge wrench in Robertson’s development.

Then Robertson was punted around the lineup and was even scratched for many games in the 2023–24 season. Under Sheldon Keefe, Robertson posted an impressive 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 56 games as a third-liner. Robertson also had limited to no power play time. 

It was no surprise that Robertson requested a trade in the offseason after the 2023–24 season. However, the Leafs hung onto Robertson and convinced him to play under Craig Berube last season. His first season under Berube didn’t go as planned, scoring 15 goals and seven assists for 22 points in 69 games.

Like the previous season, Robertson was in and out of the lineup and was swapped between a top-six and bottom-six role throughout the season. Nevertheless, the Leafs and Robertson settled on a one-year $1.825M deal heading into this season.

Heating up

Robertson started the season slowly offensively, but was defensively better. However, in the last six games playing on the first line, Robertson looks like he is starting to realize his potential. He has scored three goals and three assists since being promoted to the top line and has looked strong at both ends of the ice.

At 24 years of age, Robertson is entering the critical point of his career. Given that Robertson’s development was hampered by injuries and by the COVID season, Robertson is a possible late bloomer. Nevertheless, the Leafs need an extended look at Robertson to see if there is a future for him on the roster.

Right for the team

While it would have been a Cinderella story to have Cowan instantly become the first-line right winger, this was unrealistic. Sending him down was the right move. The fact that Cowan looked decent in his first 10 NHL games on a Leafs team that is still finding its groove is spectacular. The Leafs have a history of rushing prospects, and with Cowan being the only decent prospect in the system, they cannot afford to ruin his development.