Easton Cowan is still bothered by this season and that frustration tells you everything about who he is
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Easton Cowan still hasn't let go the Leafs response to Auston Matthews' season ending injury, with the rookie still wishing he did more.
Speaking last month after the end of the Toronto Maple Leafs season, Cowan admitted he still had some bad feelings about how the team responsed to the injury of captain Auston Matthews.
Matthews was injured March 12th against the Anaheim Ducks after a hit from Radko Gudas. Cowan fought fellow youngster Jackson LaCombe in the third period, but says he wishes more was done, especially in the immediate to the injury.
A month later, Cowan says that he is still bothered by the inaction immediately following the loss of the Leafs captain, the 20-year-old being one of the most vocal about needing to stand up physically.
Cowan said he is still angry at himself for not responding when Gudas ended Matthews season and that accountability is rare
For a young rookie such as Easton Cowan to be the one speaking up the most about needing to do more to have his team's back, it speaks to the group in more ways than one.
It shows Cowan's emergence as a potential future leader, and despite being one of the smaller players on this Leafs roster, and lacking veteran experience, he's the one standing up.
Strikingly, it's Cowan being the one speaking up on the Leafs needing to be tough and lingering over it. Cowan was one of the few who took things personal in the game against Anaheim, more than some veterans.
When physical veterans on the Leafs roster did little to stand up for Matthews, it was a smaller rookie in Cowan taking charge, and it shows the leadership qualities Cowan instills in his game.
Cowan is modelling his playoff game after Brandon Hagel and that role model choice tells you exactly what kind of player he wants to become
Playing in the AHL playoffs, Easton Cowan told reporters that Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel is one player he's modeling his game after.
Hagel blossomed into one the NHL's premier physical forwards, and its his intensity that has helped him succeed at the NHL level.
Thinking of Cowan's game, one may think of him more along the lines of Hagel's Tampa teammate Brayden Point, but it's Hagel that Cowan wishes to emulate more of.
Having been more of a smaller offensive forward such as a Brayden Point, Cowan is looking to add more of a Hagel-like edge to his game as well.
Someone who plays with an attitude and can get under player's skin, Cowan is embracing the potential of playing an agitator role, and having that aggressiveness needed in the Leafs lineup, and adding an additional layer to his game beyond his offensive prowess.
Easton Cowan has been kept bothered by the Leafs not being the physically imposing team they can be, and in his second season, Cowan is already planning to lead the initiative.
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Previously on Hockey Patrol