The Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and yet head coach Craig Berube isn't icing his best lineup on a regular basis.
Before the season, there would have been a whole collection of Leafs fans who thought that rookie Easton Cowan should spend almost the entire season in the AHL. Considering he wasn't destroying the competition in the OHL in a Marner or Strome-esque way, the consensus was that he might take some time getting used to the speed of professional hockey.
But when he made the Leafs roster out of training camp and even with some hesitation to fully accept that he belonged there, Cowan proved that he is easily one of the best 12 forwards on this team. And he has only become more and more comfortable as the season as gone on. When the Leafs looked their best, it was somewhat surprisingly during the time where Cowan was in a top-six role next to the team's stars and not looking out of place.
Easton Cowan showing a little Auston Matthews with this NASTY release 🤢🔥 pic.twitter.com/wDRKmSdiny
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) November 27, 2025
Craig Berube scratching Easton Cowan makes no sense
But now, just before the Christmas break, Cowan found himself a victim of consecutive healthy scratches yet again. It's hard to contest that the rookie should be in above players like Scott Laughton, who provide an entirely different dynamic to the game -- but simiarly skilled players like Nick Robertson or even Max Domi, should potentially come out of the lineup to insert Cowan instead.
But as always, it would be abnormal for an NHL head coach to make way for the rookie who isn't some savior of the franchise and scratch more veteran forwards to suit his needs. It's just that Cowan has certainly impressed and should play some regular hockey in a regular role on a consistent basis instead of being in and out of the lineup and being thrown from the first to the fourth line.
We'll see how the season goes forward but Cowan is easily one of the better forwards on this team and has had success scoring on the top line, something the Leafs desperately need more of if they want to start winning more hockey games.