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Maple Leafs Prospect Roundup: Cowan cleared for World Juniors, McCue on the rise
Easton Cowan (Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff)
Photo credit: Easton Cowan (Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff)
Nick Richard
Dec 17, 2024, 08:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 17, 2024, 09:14 EST
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Easton Cowan was held out of Team Canada’s camp scrimmages and games against USports players after being forced to leave his last appearance with the London Knights following a big, open-ice hit delivered by Zack Sandhu of the Oshawa Generals, but he was cleared to return to action this past weekend.
Cowan shed the non-contact jersey for Monday’s practice, where he skated on Canada’s presumptive top line alongside Colorado Avalanche prospect Calum Ritchie and 2026 draft-eligible phenom Gavin McKenna. Having the Leafs’ top prospect back in the fold is a significant boost to head coach Dave Cameron’s lineup, and Cowan figures to be leaned on far more heavily than he was at last year’s tournament.
Last season, Cowan entered the season as a dark-horse candidate to make Canada’s national junior team, and his strong play through the opening months of the season earned him a spot. He was utilized in mostly a bottom-six role, managing just a lone empty-net goal and an assist in five games as Canada was held out of the medal round. This season, however, Cowan is among a handful of returning players who are expected to lead the charge, and he will be a crucial figure in Canada’s push to reclaim gold.
Prior to leaving the game against the Oshawa Generals back on December 6th, Cowan extended his regular-season point streak to 56 games – an unofficial OHL record due to it spanning multiple seasons. Of course, he is hoping to keep up that kind of production in his second go around at the World Juniors, but Cowan’s impact can go far beyond the stat sheet.
Cowan has been used in all situations for the London Knights over the last two seasons, serving as a dynamic and energetic presence in the offensive zone and an absolute menace on the penalty kill. He can turn a game on its ear with a dazzling show of skill or help generate momentum with relentless pursuit and physicality on the forecheck. Canada’s coaching staff will be expecting Cowan to do all of those things when the tournament gets underway, and with a clean bill of health, he will be eager to oblige and help avenge last year’s disappointing showing.

Notes from the rest of the prospect pool:

  • As the Maple Leafs forward group has started to get healthy, Fraser Minten found himself as a healthy scratch for the first time since being summoned to the NHL when Toronto took on the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday. Minten has clearly earned a fan in head coach Craig Berube, but after a promising start, he has faded a bit in recent games. He played a season-low 10:12 against Detroit on Saturday night, has now gone six games without a point, and the Leafs have been heavily out-chanced in his minutes. Complicating matters further for Minten, the Leafs reworked the third line of Max Domi, Bobby McMann, and Nick Robertson was very good against the Sabres and they will likely be given another look when the Leafs take on the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. Robertson’s place in the lineup is far from secure, and the team seems to prefer Domi on the wing, but if Minten is going to be among those shuffling in and out of the lineup, it is probably best for him to return to the AHL where he can continue to develop and take on heavy minutes.
Update: The Maple Leafs announced on Tuesday that Minten has been reassigned to the Marlies.
  • After a rocky start to his season, Ben Danford has been coming on strong for the Oshawa Generals as of late. He continues to take on the toughest defensive minutes for his squad, bringing physicality and stability to the back end, and the offence has started to come around a bit as well. Danford delivered another crushing hit in Thursday’s game against Peterborough and then tallied a goal and an assist against Mississauga on Sunday, bringing him to two goals and two assists in his last five games. He has just 12 points in 29 games so far this season, but he has already quadrupled his goal total from a year ago and should still surpass last season’s point total if he can maintain the pace he has shown in the last couple of weeks.
  • Topi Niemelä’s second season in North America hasn’t gone the way he had hoped, but even with a handful of healthy scratches so far this season, he continues to lead Marlies blueliners in scoring with 10 assists through 18 games. Perhaps his nicest of the season came in Sunday’s 3-2 loss to Bakersfield:
  • Nikita Grebenkin turned heads with his tenacity and some flashes of high-end playmaking skill in his first NHL stint, but he was returned to the Marlies last week as the Leafs got some reinforcements from the injured list. Back playing big minutes after being limited to just 7:39 per game with the Leafs, Grebenkin got back into the goal column with his fifth of the season in an overtime win against Bakersfield on Saturday. The 2022 fifth-rounder now has 11 points in 15 games with the Marlies this season.
  • The Leafs may be getting healthy up front, but Anthony Stolarz was forced to leave Wednesday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks, facilitating the recall of Dennis Hildeby. Hildeby has struggled in the AHL this season, but the team still viewed him as the most reliable option to back up Joseph Woll with Matt Murray banged up and Artur Akhtyamov still getting his feet wet in North America. He made his third NHL start against the Sabres on Sunday and looked shaky in the early going, but he was able to shut the door the rest of the way and allow the Leafs to mount a comeback, extending his record to 2-1-0 with the big club. With another back-to-back on tap this weekend, Hildeby could be called upon once more if Stolarz isn’t ready to return just yet.
  • Speaking of Akhtyamov, he has hit his first real rough patch of the season after a spectacular start to his AHL career. He gave up three goals on 29 shots but picked up the win against Lehigh Valley on Tuesday, was pulled after allowing five on 15 shots against Bakersfield on Saturday, and then gave up three on 29 shots in a losing effort in Sunday’s rematch. It was a heavy workload for Akhtyamov with Hildeby being recalled to the NHL, and those three games lowered his SV% on the season from .933 down to .911.
  • It was another big weekend for Lethbridge Hurricanes’ captain Noah Chadwick, coming away with two goals and an assist in a pair of games against Medicine Hat. Chadwick broke out last season with 56 points in 66 games from the blue line for the Hurricanes, and he’s on pace to exceed that total in what figures to be his final year of junior hockey.
  • A couple of picks from the previous regime who have been knocked down the depth chart this season, Mikko Kokkonen and William Villeneuve, have been productive from the blue line for the Marlies as of late. Kokkonen, who is known more for his steady defensive play, potted his first two goals of the season against Lehigh Valley on Tuesday and then added an assist against Bakersfield on Saturday. Fresh off three assists in two games last weekend, Villeneuve stayed hot with four assists in Saturday’s wild overtime victory over Bakersfield and added another in Sunday’s contest.
  • Another week, another big game for 2024 seventh-rounder Sam McCue. He was a force against the Guelph Storm on Wednesday, scoring his 18th goal of the season and tacking three assists onto his stat line. McCue is a big body who plays a forceful game, but he has unlocked a new level offensively so far this season, and he is an early candidate for “biggest riser” in the Leafs’ prospect pool this year.

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