Welcome to part two of my look into the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects in the 2024 World Junior Championship.
The first part looked at Canada's captain and Saskatoon Blades Forward Fraser Minten, a 2nd Round Pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
Today's analysis goes into Easton Cowan, breaking down his game and providing video analysis of how the Leafs prospect did for the Canadian team.
I doubt anyone could have predicted Easton Cowan would be at the World Juniors this time last year.
Analyzing Easton Cowan's Performance at the 2024 World Juniors
Easton Cowan went from a near unknown in his draft year with the London Knights, his first OHL season, to a sensational end to his year leading to a shock selection by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, 28th Overall.
In one of the deepest drafts in years, taking a pick seen as stunningly off of public draft boards (I only ranked him at 60th), Cowan has done nothing other than prove himself times over, making a strong enough impression in the pre-season to warrant talk about him making the Leafs as a rookie.
Toronto rightfully sent Cowan back to London, where further he continued to show his end of year campaign wasn't a lucky fluke, this season being one of the top offensive forwards in the league. It wasn't a surprise he was in contention for a spot on Team Canada, and rightfully so.
Easton Cowan 2024 World Juniors Player Card pic.twitter.com/MQJmJ81WeO
— Austin Kelly (@AustinReporting) January 3, 2024
For a player with just two points, the underlying numbers, tracked courtesy of Mitch Brown & Lassi Alanen of EliteProspects, show that even with a lack of production, Easton Cowan had a very well-rounded tournament, showing success in all aspects of the ice.
What is perhaps even more interesting is the fact that the stats indicate in the 5 games played for the Canadians, Cowan had better advanced stats metrics than fellow Leafs prospect Fraser Minten, Canada's Captain at the World Juniors.
So what exactly did Cowan do well that isn't represented on the scoresheet. A few video examples provided pulled by me showcase the impact Cowan had for Canada through the tournament, including some key plays and opportunities.