The 2025 World Junior Hockey Championship is *unofficially* underway for Team Canada after playing their first pre-tournament game and taking home a convincing win against Switzerland, in large part due to the play of the Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect.
Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan net a hat trick on Thursday night in Canada's 7-1 pre-tournament rout of Switzerland.
Cowan net his third goal of the night on a one-timer on the power play of a nice feed from Erie Otters defenceman Matthew Schaefer. Cowan was very complimentary of the pass following the game.
Cowan went on to call Schaefer, who is among a handful of players with a real possibility of going No. 1 in the 2025 NHL Draft, an "elite player" and said he "sees the ice extremely well".
Team Canada Takes Care of Business
Cowan played on a line with Bradly Nadeau of the Chicago Wolves and Oshawa Generals forward Calum Ritchie. He also played on the first power play unit with Schaefer, Nadeau, Ritchie, and Howe.
Easton Cowan Hat-Trick!! 🎩🎩🎩#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/qLv8ydoXY0
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 20, 2024
The London Knights forward's first goal of the game came with just under three minutes left in the first period off a very nice give and go play with linemate Calum Ritchie to give his team a 4-0 lead in the first. His second of the night came less than a minute into the final frame on a wrist shot from just inside the offensive blue line.
Brayden Yager, Andrew Gibson, Berkly Catton and Caden Price recorded the other four goals for Canada.
Although it's unclear who's going to be the starting goalie for the team come the real deal, Carter George got the start on Thursday and picked up the win. Despite not facing a ton of shots, he was solid when he needed to be and he said post game it "means the world to (him)" to be able to show the hard work he's put in.
As one of only four returnees on the squad, Cowan will be a big part of this team this year and his play will likely dictate the success, or lack thereof, of this team.
This was the first of three pre-tournament games for Canada before the tournament officially gets underway on Boxing Day.
Their next pre-tournament game is Saturday against Sweden, and their final exhibition will be against Czechia on December 23rd. Czechia boasts the only other Maple Leafs prospect in this tournament in 2024 draft selection Miroslav Holinka.