Easton Cowan is not the same player he was last season and he just proved it

Easton Cowan just admitted that he isn't the same player as last year. Not that it's a bad thing as he's gotten stronger, faster, and proving it in the AHL Playoffs

Toronto's top prospect came into last season with a ton of hype, not unlike Gavin McKenna will have when he steps onto the ice in 2026-27. Cowan didn't exactly blow people away like he did in the OHL, but his heart, scrappy nature and immense potential pushed him to a very solid NHL debut season.

Cowan, 21, has 29 points in 66 games for the Maple Leafs (11 goals, 18 assists) while adding 32 blocks and 72 hits. He was a spark plug all year and showed a lot of maturity, especially when he took responsibility for not sticking up for Auston Matthews - something he tried hard to make up to his captain.

Right now he's focused on the junior Maple Leafs, as he's the guy who helped send the Toronto Marlies to the Eastern Conference Finals after a stunning effort in the waning seconds of Game 5.

Easton Cowan admits he's gotten stronger, bigger, and a lot more confident in his game

He's been a little bit of a mixed bag but has shown that clutch gene once again, and he feels confident he can use that to be even better next season. Appearing on First Up, Cowan admitted that he feels like he's gotten bigger, stronger, and more confident - which makes him even more dangerous:

I feel like I've gotten a bit bigger and stronger too, and I'm just looking to maintain that the rest of the year, and then have a big summer for me will be huge.

[When asked about his growth] A hundred percent. I mean, not just my overall game, but my confidence as a player. It's just, I feel like the more reps you get, the more comfortable you get.

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Reps he's getting too as he's a staple of the Marlies second line and hasn't budged there since the start of the playoffs. Right now he has eight points in 13 games but is a minus-six so the defensive side of his game has slipped a little bit, and it's cause he's trying to do it all.

Cowan, for as good as he is, needs to be a little more patient and selective. He's rushing into the opposition head on but is getting turned away more often than not, so slowing the game down a bit could be beneficial and he's got more than enough time to do it this postseason.

That minus-six needs some context though, as he did suffer a brutal line change that saw him on the ice for a goal, and could be feeling the grind of the season having played now in 79 games with both the Maple Leafs and Marlies.

Cowan's growth physically and mentally will make him Toronto's sneakiest weapon in 2026-27

Already someone who is willing to throw down, get into the gritty areas and play hard, Cowan getting bigger and stronger is only going to make things harder for opponents. Cowan is listed at 6-foot, 190 pounds on Hockey Reference, so if he added another 5-10 pounds of muscle throughout the year then that's scary.

A guy with a relentless motor like Cowan being 200 pounds but moving like lightning means that not only can he find the open space up the ice, but be powerful enough to impact the transition game. If this newfound strength means he can win more board battles then that only opens up the playmaking even more.

He already put up 29 points in a season where he was sat for a month, so it's possible he ended up with 35-40 points which is not too shabby for a debut season especially on a team that's failing with so much star power.

Adding Cowan into the top-six with Matthews, McKenna, Knies, Nylander and Tavares provides some serious damage, and if he's gotten bigger and nastier then it may be Toronto's answer to their power forward issue on the second line.

Maybe he's not the tallest, but he'll make you think twice about messing with him or his teammates.

With one NHL season under his belt, the AHL Playoffs presenting a new challenge, and the 2026-27 year being one full of hope for Toronto, Easton Cowan is finding himself front and centre of it all.

From the sounds of it, he's more than happy to take on that challenge as well.

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