<p>The 2025 World Juniors are underway, and although the Toronto Maple Leafs only have two prospects at the tournament, it&#8217;s been chock full of storylines whether you&#8217;re tuning in just for Leafs representation or truly love the tournament and the tradition behind it.</p>
<p>With Team Canada dropping a 3-2 shootout loss to Team Latvia in what&#8217;s easily one of the biggest upsets of the past couple of years, the Canadians are second place in Group A behind the United States. They will take on Germany on Sunday night and the United States on New Year&#8217;s Eve. While there&#8217;s not an arm&#8217;s length list of stories to link back to the Maple Leafs prospects, here are three takeaways from the Toronto side of things after three days at the tournament.</p>
<h2>Shootout attempt be damned, Cowan has been fine</h2>
<p>The Maple Leafs&#8217; most recognizable name at the tournament is 2023 first-round pick Easton Cowan, who&#8217;s representing Team Canada at the tournament for the second year in a row, this year taking on more of an important role and playing top-line minutes alongside Winnipeg Jets prospect and Team Canada captain Brayden Yager. Cowan scored a goal on Boxing Day against Team Finland and added an assist to give him two points in two games for Canada, but he&#8217;s been criticized a little bit for his shootout attempt against Latvia on Friday night.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">easton cowan&#39;s shootout looks like me in NHL 14 <a href="https://t.co/aeR6wYMTwa">pic.twitter.com/aeR6wYMTwa</a></p>
<p>&mdash; BAM (@schlaBAM) <a href="https://twitter.com/schlaBAM/status/1872863217174900967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>On the one hand, it&#8217;s not a great look to come in with 25% of the speed you normally would in a shootout, hit the leg kick three times (like one might do in NHL 24, as the poster suggests), and get robbed. On the other hand, this was a move that Cowan has successfully used a number of times in junior and preseason. Besides, if you&#8217;re struggling to score goals against Latvia, your issues are greater than one guy attempting a non-traditional move in the shootout.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;Easton Cowan with the worst shootout attempt ever last night for Canada he&#39;s horrible!&quot;</p>
<p>&#8211; Non puck knowers <a href="https://t.co/sJsuUtkatx">pic.twitter.com/sJsuUtkatx</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Nealer (@Nealerrr) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nealerrr/status/1873031716841111920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>At any rate, Cowan has an opportunity to step up for Canada in a big way from here on out, to silence his critics and make that shootout attempt nothing but an afterthought. And there&#8217;s no better time to do so than New Year&#8217;s Eve on the big stage.</p>
<h2>Holinka is starting to make himself known</h2>
<p>Cowan was already going to get lots of the attention at the World Juniors, not just because he&#8217;s a first-round pick, but because he&#8217;s suiting up for the host nation and playing for one of the most popular teams in the league from said nation. But Toronto&#8217;s other representative has been quietly enjoying a nice tournament for himself so far.</p>
<p>Miroslav Holinka was selected in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL Draft out of Czechia, and fans have been able to get to know him a little better as he crossed the Atlantic Ocean and began his North American hockey career with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He has ten goals and 21 points in 23 games over there, but the 6-foot-1 centre has continued his production at the tournament level, also with a goal and an assist in two games so far.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nice setup from Leafs pick Miroslav Holinka. Already 2 primary points for him at the world junior <a href="https://t.co/rcEZKki4Ut">pic.twitter.com/rcEZKki4Ut</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kyle_Cush/status/1872421341015740711?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 26, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Holinka&#8217;s instincts and hockey IQ are already pretty advanced for his age, having just turned 19, and it will be interesting to see how far his team is capable of going.</p>
<h2>Team Canada snubs raising concerns</h2>
<p>This one isn&#8217;t directly Leafs-related, but it&#8217;s worth talking about. Team Canada suffered a massive upset at last year&#8217;s tournament, being knocked out of the quarter-finals against Czechia despite their reputation for constantly medalling or at least making it into the semi-finals. While it&#8217;s too early to hit the panic button this year despite the loss to Latvia (or at all, considering, you know, these are teenagers), Canada&#8217;s roster selections have come into question after another somewhat uninspiring start.</p>
<p>A couple of the snubs include possible 2025 first-overall pick Michael Misa, Calgary Flames first-round pick defenceman Zayne Parekh, Washington Capitals second-round pick Andrew Cristall, who&#8217;s been lighting up the WHL this season, and goal-scorer Carson Rehkopf, who was on last year&#8217;s team but didn&#8217;t make the cut this season.</p>
<p>If you want to make it Leafs-related, there&#8217;s an argument to be made that 2023 seventh-round pick defenceman Noah Chadwick is among these snubs, but whether he was named or not doesn&#8217;t affect the greater issue that is the strategy this team adopted in selecting their players. It seems like they prioritized &#8216;role guys&#8217; more so than just taking the best players available, and it&#8217;s starting to show through a little bit.</p>
<h2>Nation Gear Boxing Day Sale</h2>
<p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115234" src="https://i0.wp.com/publish.theleafsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2099/08/boxingdayblue_article.png?resize=727%2C404&#038;ssl=1" alt="" width="727" height="404" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/publish.theleafsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2099/08/boxingdayblue_article.png?w=727&amp;ssl=1 727w, https://i0.wp.com/publish.theleafsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2099/08/boxingdayblue_article.png?resize=300%2C167&amp;ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 727px) 100vw, 727px" /></p>
<p>From December 26th to 29th, we’re dropping our biggest sale of the year—and trust us, you don’t want to miss it. Here’s the lineup: 20% off all gear—yes, all gear. Hoodies, tees, hats—whatever you need to rep your team in style. Plus, free shipping on orders over $200, so you’re saving on both gear and delivery. This is your chance to stock up and save big while looking sharp in the best gear out there. But don’t wait—when this sale ends, it’s game over. <a href="https://nationgear.ca/">Head over to nationgear.ca right now to take advantage of these deals. Gear up. Save big.</a></p>


The 2025 World Juniors are underway, and although the Toronto Maple Leafs only have two prospects at the tournament, it's been chock full of storylines whether you're tuning in just for Leafs representation or truly love the tournament and the tradition behind it.

With Team Canada dropping a 3-2 shootout loss to Team Latvia in what's easily one of the biggest upsets of the past couple of years, the Canadians are second place in Group A behind the United States. They will take on Germany on Sunday night and the United States on New Year's Eve. While there's not an arm's length list of stories to link back to the Maple Leafs prospects, here are three takeaways from the Toronto side of things after three days at the tournament.
<h2>Shootout attempt be damned, Cowan has been fine</h2>
The Maple Leafs' most recognizable name at the tournament is 2023 first-round pick Easton Cowan, who's representing Team Canada at the tournament for the second year in a row, this year taking on more of an important role and playing top-line minutes alongside Winnipeg Jets prospect and Team Canada captain Brayden Yager. Cowan scored a goal on Boxing Day against Team Finland and added an assist to give him two points in two games for Canada, but he's been criticized a little bit for his shootout attempt against Latvia on Friday night.

https://twitter.com/schlaBAM/status/1872863217174900967

On the one hand, it's not a great look to come in with 25% of the speed you normally would in a shootout, hit the leg kick three times (like one might do in NHL 24, as the poster suggests), and get robbed. On the other hand, this was a move that Cowan has successfully used a number of times in junior and preseason. Besides, if you're struggling to score goals against Latvia, your issues are greater than one guy attempting a non-traditional move in the shootout.

https://twitter.com/Nealerrr/status/1873031716841111920

At any rate, Cowan has an opportunity to step up for Canada in a big way from here on out, to silence his critics and make that shootout attempt nothing but an afterthought. And there's no better time to do so than New Year's Eve on the big stage.
<h2>Holinka is starting to make himself known</h2>
Cowan was already going to get lots of the attention at the World Juniors, not just because he's a first-round pick, but because he's suiting up for the host nation and playing for one of the most popular teams in the league from said nation. But Toronto's other representative has been quietly enjoying a nice tournament for himself so far.

Miroslav Holinka was selected in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL Draft out of Czechia, and fans have been able to get to know him a little better as he crossed the Atlantic Ocean and began his North American hockey career with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He has ten goals and 21 points in 23 games over there, but the 6-foot-1 centre has continued his production at the tournament level, also with a goal and an assist in two games so far.

https://twitter.com/Kyle_Cush/status/1872421341015740711

Holinka's instincts and hockey IQ are already pretty advanced for his age, having just turned 19, and it will be interesting to see how far his team is capable of going.
<h2>Team Canada snubs raising concerns</h2>
This one isn't directly Leafs-related, but it's worth talking about. Team Canada suffered a massive upset at last year's tournament, being knocked out of the quarter-finals against Czechia despite their reputation for constantly medalling or at least making it into the semi-finals. While it's too early to hit the panic button this year despite the loss to Latvia (or at all, considering, you know, these are teenagers), Canada's roster selections have come into question after another somewhat uninspiring start.

A couple of the snubs include possible 2025 first-overall pick Michael Misa, Calgary Flames first-round pick defenceman Zayne Parekh, Washington Capitals second-round pick Andrew Cristall, who's been lighting up the WHL this season, and goal-scorer Carson Rehkopf, who was on last year's team but didn't make the cut this season.

If you want to make it Leafs-related, there's an argument to be made that 2023 seventh-round pick defenceman Noah Chadwick is among these snubs, but whether he was named or not doesn't affect the greater issue that is the strategy this team adopted in selecting their players. It seems like they prioritized 'role guys' more so than just taking the best players available, and it's starting to show through a little bit.
<h2>Nation Gear Boxing Day Sale</h2>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115234" src="https://publish.theleafsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2099/08/boxingdayblue_article.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" />

From December 26th to 29th, we’re dropping our biggest sale of the year—and trust us, you don’t want to miss it. Here’s the lineup: 20% off all gear—yes, all gear. Hoodies, tees, hats—whatever you need to rep your team in style. Plus, free shipping on orders over $200, so you’re saving on both gear and delivery. This is your chance to stock up and save big while looking sharp in the best gear out there. But don’t wait—when this sale ends, it’s game over. <a href="https://nationgear.ca/">Head over to nationgear.ca right now to take advantage of these deals. Gear up. Save big.</a>

3 takeaways after 3 days of Maple Leafs prospects at the World Juniors

Recent articles from Alex Hobson

Breaking News