Easton Cowan’s pursuit of making the Toronto Maple Leafs’ opening night roster will be discussed and analyzed ad nauseam in a few months but for now, the London Knights star is take a larger leadership role for Canada during the World Junior Summer Showcase.

The summer tournament essentially serves as a precursor for this winter’s World Juniors, providing international teams with an extended look at prospects. Cowan is a lock for Canada’s World Juniors team — provided he’s not a fixture with the Maple Leafs — and expanded upon his expectations for the tournament with reporters Monday.

“I just want to show some leadership,” Cowan said via TSN’s Mark Masters. “I think I bring a lot of leadership this year. I know last year, we (Canada) lost, unfortunately. I won an OHL championship, lost in the [Memorial Cup] final. I think I have a lot of stuff under my belt, I can be a leader this year and be someone the younger guys can ask (questions) and look up to.”

Cowan was one game shy of an individual major junior triple crown of sorts last season, winning OHL MVP and OHL playoff MVP honours, before the Knights were upset in the Memorial Cup final by the Saginaw Spirit. The 19-year-old recorded 34 goals and 96 points in 54 regular season games, adding 10 goals and 34 points in 18 playoff contests.

Masters asked Cowan about last year’s World Juniors and Toronto’s prized prospect provided a candid assessment. Canada was upset by Czechia in the quarterfinals, and Cowan finished the tournament with a goal and two points in five games.

“It sucked. No one likes to lose, everyone likes to win. It sucked a lot but I think we’re going to build off of it and use it as a chip on our shoulder this year.”

“I hate losing and love to win.”

Cowan is going to be a staple of the Canadian team this summer, provided he doesn’t graduate to the NHL and is one of the pillars of this summer’s roster, while fellow Maple Leafs prospect Noah Chadwick looks to make a strong impression on the Hockey Canada staff.

Canada plays a split-squad game on Tuesday evening, before the team takes on Sweden on Wednesday in Windsor, Ontario.