The Maple Leafs need to trade Easton Cowan for the 22-year-old puck-moving defenseman available in Anaheim
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs need a young puck-moving defenceman to build around, and with a surplus of talented forwards, Easton Cowan is the perfect trade piece.
Olen Zellweger is a young, promising puck-mover with incredible vision, deceptive hands and NHL experience. He would fit perfectly as Morgan Rielly's replacement, and give Toronto their defender of the future. GM John Chayka will need to live with the fact that in order to get him, he's going to need to trade Easton Cowan in order to do it.
John Chayka's job this offseason could be summed up as a difficult one to say the very least. Not only does he need to find a new head coach, figure out the first overall pick, get Auston Matthews on the same page as everyone else, and make enough trades and signings to justify his modern analytical approach.
Olen Zellweger is the 22 year old elite puck mover Toronto has been missing on the back end for over a decade
He's only got a couple of months to figure it out, and if he wants to make a splash then he is going to have to crack a few eggs in order to make an omelette. One of the top priorities for the Toronto offseason is getting younger and better on the blueline and they need a stud to anchor the backend; luckily there's one out in California.
Olen Zellweger is a 22-year old left-handed puck-mover who has incredible vision and a knack for finding the open man. He doesn't shoot that hard, but what he lacks in power he makes up in speed and his shot is based on finesse and accuracy.
He ranked in the 84th percentile for defenders in skate speed per NHL EDGE and has shockingly good possession numbers already in his young career.
Struggling a bit this season, Zellweger only had 22 points in 76 games (7 goals, 15 assists) but was a plus-4 with 85 blocks and a 53.1 CF%.
He would slot in as the replacement for Morgan Rielly as the top-pairing defender and alongside maybe Darren Raddysh or a healthy Chris Tanev; he could really shine. Not the biggest guy at 5-foot-10 and under 200 pounds, but the modern approach doesn't really have size as a key factor.
What's great about him is that he's a restricted free agent, so Toronto has a couple ways to acquire him too. Chayka could surprise everyone and offer a ridiculous offer sheet to steal him away. With a stacked defensive group and potential returning faces like Jacob Trouba - he could be forced out.
Chayka could present a six-year offer for a maximum of $4,680,076 per season which equates to a total of $28,080,456; a staggering increase over his current $844,167 salary.
That would be a much cheaper alternative to Rielly, with a chance to have Zellweger lead the team into his prime and be that speedy, pass-first maestro Toronto has desperately been missing.
Anaheim has a forward depth problem and Toronto has a defense problem and Cowan for Zellweger fixes both sides perfectly
Now here comes the hard part. Anaheim is going to need a big name back for Zellweger, and with a bunch of upcoming free agents and big contracts to deal with - the Ducks might not be able to afford him.
But they can afford an entry level deal from a young player like Easton Cowan. Cowan would give the Ducks yet another insanely talented forward to go along with Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson.
Now you may be asking: 'Why trade Cowan? That's crazy.' Well, let's take a look at who Toronto has up front and who they may also be bringing in:
- William Nylander
- Matthew Knies
- Gavin McKenna*
- Matias Maccelli
- Nick Robertson
- Max Domi
- Dakota Joshua
- Alex Tuch**
- Mason Marchment**
- Bobby McMann**
- Matthew Knies
- Gavin McKenna*
- Matias Maccelli
- Nick Robertson
- Max Domi
- Dakota Joshua
- Alex Tuch**
- Mason Marchment**
- Bobby McMann**
*denotes 2026 NHL Draft selection
**denotes 2025-26 Potential Offseason FA Signing/Trade
**denotes 2025-26 Potential Offseason FA Signing/Trade
Even without big names coming in there's still a bit of a logjam, not to mention the team also has some pretty interesting rookies down in the Marlies pipeline with names like Borya Valis and Miroslav Holinka. Plus there's a chance Semyon Der-Arguchintsev comes back, and guys like Bo Groulx still exist.
As you can see, suddenly there's a gigantic swath of wingers who are all vying for a shot or have locked down spots. Cowan is a very exciting prospect, but with a priority on the back end and Gavin McKenna the new rookie to build around - he's kind of expendable.
Zellweger has more NHL experience than every Maple Leafs blueline prospect combined, is already pushing top-4 minutes, has proven he can contribute at the NHL level; all at 22 years old.
It's a painful move for sure as Cowan has been nothing but a team player who has often brought fire to the ice even when his team is ice cold.
But he's also the perfect piece to improve Toronto's blueline and John Chayka needs to pick up the phone and see if Pat Verbeek is willing to talk.
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