Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube is giving rookie Easton Cowan a substantial vote in confidence ahead of Monday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
As morning skate went on before Sidney Crosby and his unexpectedly good Penguins take the ice against the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena, it was revealed that Cowan will be on the Leafs' top power-play unit for the game. Not only is he put on the unit with the best players this roster has, including Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander, but he takes the place of fellow young winger Matthew Knies.
Leafs PP Reps at morning skate Nov. 3/25⁰⁰Rielly⁰Matthews, Cowan, Nylander⁰Tavares⁰⁰OEL⁰Maccelli, Domi, Robertson⁰Knies
— David Alter (@dalter) November 3, 2025
That is an extremely positive sign and clearly demonstrates how much trust the Leafs coaching staff has in the 20-year-old.
Cowan was able to net his first career NHL goal against the Flyers on Saturday while playing just 12:39 time-on-ice. Maybe, this is just a way to get him those extra minutes since he is playing such solid hockey right now.
In his nine games this season, Cowan has his goal and four total points and has been mainly been in the Leafs' bottom six while doing exactly that. He got his rare opportunity on the Leafs' top line next to Auston Matthews but was then demoted back down after suffering a brutal loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets last week.
But not only is Cowan going to be playing on the top power-play unit, but he gets to be on the left side of John Tavares and William Nylander during 5-on-5 action against the Penguins, too.
Head coach Craig Berube explained how well he was able to play this weekend next to Tavares and how he deserves to stick there with Nylander returning from his injury.
"Cowboy did a lot with the puck, skated well through the neutral zone, made plays in the offensive zone. It looked like him and (Tavares) read off each other well, created some scoring opportunities. Cowan has the ability to make those little plays in tight," Berube said after morning skate, via TLN's Arun Srinivasan.
Cowan is doing a whole lot of little things right so it wouldn't surprise us if he suddenly takes off offensively given the personnel he's able to play next to. If the Leafs can find a rookie to boost this team's offense and play with more pace, that's an extremely good sign of some results to come this season.