The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted top prospect Easton Cowan with the 28th overall pick at the 2023 NHL draft. At the time, many were skeptical of the pick given Cowan's low production and with many public rankings having him slotted much later in the draft.
In his draft year, the Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect played in 68 games for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He scored only 20 goals and 33 assists for 53 points during the regular season.
In the playoffs he took off, adding nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points in only 20 games. This sort of production trend is a model that the Leafs have followed for a few years, consistently taking players who blew up in the second-half and postseason.
Despite the naysayers, Leafs management stood by their scouting staff and chose the forward with their only pick in the first four rounds at the draft. Since then, he has been nothing bet stellar and has made many (myself included) eat serving after serving of humble pie.
Easton Cowan can set an OHL record
In his post-draft season, Cowan exploded scoring 34 goals and 62 assists for 96 points in only 54 games, as well as receiving a nod to represent Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships.
He once again took off in the playoffs scoring 10 goals and 24 assists in only 18 games and three goals, five assists in only four Memorial Cup games. Unfortunately, the Knights did not win the Memorial Cup but Cowan took home some hardware of his own, capturing the OHL Playoffs MVP and Red Tillson Trophy for the OHL's Most Outstanding Player.
Heading into this season, he had his sights set on attempting to make the Toronto Maple Leafs roster out of camp, even skipping Knights training camp in an attempt to do so. However, he did not make the team, being one of the final cuts at the end of the Leafs preseason. Since returning to the OHL, he has been unstoppable scoring 14 goals and 25 points in just 18 games.
Now that he is back in the OHL, he has the chance to add to his remarkable resume, beating former Leafs great Doug Gilmour and his OHL record for longest point streak at 55 games that he set back in 1983. Currently, Cowan's point streak is at 54 games dating back to last year but on Thursday, November 28th against the Peterborough Petes he has the opportunity to tie the record and then beat it the following night against the Kingston Frontenacs on Friday.
It would be an amazing feat to overtake a record that has stood for over forty years. All stats and information from chl.ca
Even if Cowan does not tie or beat the record, he has already accomplished so much and a 54-game point streak is quite the feather in his cap and a great start to what is anticipated to be a lucrative NHL career.