One of main consequences in being a perennial contender like the Toronto Maple Leafs have been for almost the past decade is the fact that they often have to sacrifice many of their draft picks and young players to maintain the contending makeup of their roster. In doing so, the Maple Leafs saw many of those promising assets traded away over the years.
As a result, Toronto entered the 2025-26 season without a first-round draft pick for the 2026 and 2027 NHL Entry Draft. Which means if the Maple Leafs want to pull off any big move before the trade deadline this year, they will likely need to part with a top prospect that they preciously own and developed. In terms of their best trade chip that they currently have, that honour without question falls on the shoulders of the young Easton Cowan. However, the dilemma for the Leafs will be that they can ill-afford to let him go at this moment.
Easton Cowan has become too important to the Leafs to be traded
Unlike Fraser Minten, who was also a top prospect of the Maple Leafs last season until he was dealt away to the Boston Bruins in order to land Brandon Carlo, Cowan has a much higher ceiling working in his favour. If his growth and development at the NHL level goes as planned, the rookie forward could top out as a top-six forward and potentially an eventual “Mitch Marner-lite” replacement for Toronto. On top of that, his maturity has started to show in recent weeks after enduring some expected initial rookie mistakes to start the season.
Having found some chemistry on the third line with Nicolas Roy and Nick Robertson, Cowan has now recorded three goals in his past four games including the overtime game-winner against the Philadelphia Flyers on January 8. More importantly, he had been playing more responsibly with the puck and learning the grinds of the game with the veteran Roy to show him the way. In doing so, Cowan has helped make the Leafs offense at least three lines deep, making it harder for the opposition in creating effective matchups against them. Toronto also happens to be on a massive surge in recent weeks as everything appears to be finally clicking on all cylinders.
As a result, dealing Cowan now when he is just starting to round into form is a no-no for any young prospect that appears to be on the verge of breaking out. Not to mention his valuable contributions from the bottom six to add much-needed secondary scoring for the club. On top of that, moving Cowan would throw off the chemistry the entire team has with the current lines that have been working to perfection. Moreover, the cap space needed to roster the rookie is minimal and likely at least for the next few years, whereas the key piece that he would help bring in will likely force the Leafs to make another move or two to free up cap space to make it work, thus altering the roster chemistry even more.
Therefore, as much as Cowan is likely the Maple Leafs best trade chip as of this moment, trading him is the last thing Toronto should think of right now. Especially for someone that could peak with top-line potential, moving on from the promising rookie will haunt the Leafs for a long, long time.