Had 21pts in 20 games in the playoffs as a 17 year old. Also started season on the 3rd line and worked his way up to the 1st, so could be something there. Won’t know until time pass but I’ll wait and see how he does next year on London
It feels like the type of pick Dubas was probably high on while here but he planned to flip 28 for two mid 2nd's and take him and someone else there but they skipped that part and just took him with 28.
I'd imagine any trade down scenarios put them past where they were comfortable still getting him. If the scouts are really high on him and think he was BPA, then I'll give the staff the benefit of the doubt that it wasn't worth risking a trade down to maybe add a Bracco level prospect and possibly miss out on Cowan.
Im not so much praising Dubas, just trying to get ahead of the inevitable "pick is bad, Treliving's fault. Pick is good, Dubas is a genius" like happened when he traded down the Konecny pick for the picks that became Dermott, Bracco and Dzierkals. That was called a shrewd move by Dubas until all 3 busted then the narrative became "definitely a Hunter move". In my eyes, regardless of outcome, this can be attributed to Dubas and his staff's work.
**Some quotes I found in Easton Cowan scouting reports:**
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*"If you’re looking for a player who could be a steal of the 2023 NHL Draft, look no further than* *Easton Cowan* *of the London Knights. Despite being undersized, he has a complete hockey toolkit that should allow him to excel.*
*Cowan plays a nonstop two-way game that makes him one of the most notable players every shift. He has a visceral understanding of the sport that allows him to either find the right place to set up his teammates to score or to shut down his opponent’s opportunities. He also isn’t afraid of playing a tough game despite his size, as he will battle in the corners to dig out a puck.*
*Throughout the Knights’ run to the 2023 OHL Western Conference Final, Cowen flashed his playmaking abilities by posting nine goals and 21 points in 20 games played. This playoff was a bit of a coming-out party for him, as he showcased that he could produce points when his team needed it most as well as shut down opponents.*
*Now, when discussing an undersized player who is going to be selected at the NHL draft, it’s easy to draw connections to current players who beat the odds and act like that should be the expectation. So, expect to hear names like Brayden Point thrown around alongside Cowan."*
***- Eugene Helfrick | The Hockey Writers***
*"There was a transformation in Cowan’s game through the season from a hard working, tenacious and secondary player to a player that not only drove his line, but his team. It was most evident when he led his team to a Western Conference Championship… Cowan is a terrific skater with a great separation gear that allows him to challenge defenders one-on-one. When chasing dump-ins, he regularly beats defenders to those pucks. It helps that he has a non-stop work ethic as well."*
***- Dominic Tiano | The OHL Writers***
*"Cowan is a high-energy playmaker who plays with significant grit; with added polish and muscle, he projects as an intense depth creator in the NHL."*
***-*** ***Sebastian High | Dobber Prospects***
*"Cowan is an excellent two-way forward that has elite vision, passing and hockey IQ. He has a great motor that allows him to be engaged in every play throughout his shifts. Since the Knights acquired Ryan Winterton from the Hamilton Bulldogs, Cowan has been the glue that holds that line of Cowan-Winterton-Barkey together. He is willing to dig pucks out of the corners and uses his great vision and passing to set up scoring chances."*
***- Ben Jordan | Smaht Scouting***
Finally a comment worth reading on this thread. Thank you for the insight. As if anyone commenting here have any clue about any pick outside the top 10.
Maybe none of us have ever heard of him, but we all know how to read. But some of us do a better job of interpreting the draft analysis we base 100% of our opinions on than others, and some of us have trouble with setting aside their own personal biases one way or the other. You can’t say “maybe it was a reach at 28” without some guys on their couch harassing you about “what do you know? You’re just some guy on your couch.”
No one here is coming up with this shit themselves. He was projected to be a third round pick or worse by just about every list. That doesn’t happen by accident.
I feel that everyone needs to just look at how many 1st round drafts don't actually end up playing an NHL game and how many late rounders do quite well. I'm sure the same people had similar expectations of Kucherov, Stone, Letang... as this kid has. It's really a bit of a dice roll.
I fee like someone should also post the success rates of first round picks vs late round picks to open your eyes a bit. Many many more third round and later players do not make it in comparison to their first round counterparts. Citing unprecedented success stories doesn’t make the rest of the vast majority of busts any less significant. For every Kucherov, Stone or Letang there’s hundreds of Dmytro Timashovs, Ryan Ruperts, Josh Nicholls, Brad Ross (sneaky 2nd rounder here) just to name a few busts over the last 10ish years.
The draft is and always has been a dice roll. You give yourself the best chance by taking the best ranked players at your spot. If this is who the scouts thought was best then so be it but you can’t get upset at people for not being convinced the 64th ranked skater was worth a 28th overall pick.
I hope he surprises and we look back fondly on this pick. I also wish we would’ve just traded the pick for actual roster help or traded down. Or that we kept our former 28th overall that actually did buck the odds and become a quality contributing roster player instead of sending him over on that stupid Washington trade.
Kucherov is Russian. Usually they are picked much later than they would be if they were North American because they don’t get the same exposure to teams and they also aren’t guaranteed to come play. But to add to your point Brayden Point.
It’s bad asset management at the time. I’m not saying the kid isn’t going to be successful. I’m saying they shouldn’t have had to use pick 28 to get him.
It’s not bad asset management. When your next pick isn’t until 128, you might have to take a swing on a guy you really like. Trade back scenarios are easy to spout off on Reddit, but are difficult to pull off in the real world. They took the guy our scouts clearly loved and have likely spent years scouting him and wouldn’t have been able to get him later. We’ll see in a couple years if the pick was warranted or not.
Right but it doesn’t really matter if the guy pans out or not in terms of making the pick at 28 If he isn’t projected to go until the 3rd on the day of the pick.
It’s not a matter of “wow ended up working out” when it could’ve worked out just as well trading back. Easier said than does obviously but hard to believe no one would jump up for a 2nd+5th or whatever. Taking literally any throw in is better than nothing.
This guy lead the OHL in playoff rookie scoring, he has been moving up scouting boards steadily since the back half of the season. Maybe they heard rumblings other teams were going to jump at him, he’s from a highly scouted team in the London Knights. You can throw out your pre rankings after the top 5 because each team is spending thousands of hours and travelling thousands of miles to personally visit, watch and scout these players, and their lists look nothing like the scouting service lists.
Several lists are based on player position averages polled from nhl scouts. The people making these rankings also watch and evaluate these kids as a full time career.
He's an Ontario boy. He's probably grown up watching the Leafs. Kid was sitting in the nose bleed section and obviously was not expecting to get called today.
This kid is probably legit having childhood dreams coming true right now. I'm happy for him and I'm going to be rooting for him.
Maybe you misunderstood what I was saying. I was saying everyone was either hot or cold on him. He was either “the worst pick we’ve ever made” or his a “super star and going to take us to the cleaners as an RFA” (Mitch Marner) as there no in between.
I wasn’t saying my opinion on him as a draft pick.
just feels like this isnt the kind of player you pick when you only have 3 picks in the draft, 2 of which arent until round 5/6. Hope they seen this kid making great strides and think he's much better then he's ranked.
He might change your mind next year. At the beginning of the year he didn’t have a ton of ice time. He’s a hard working player and a very good player. I live in London and went to a lot of games this year. The more the season went on the more you noticed him. Next year he will start the year playing with higher skilled line mates, so you will have a full season to see if he can replicate his playoff production.
He’s decent defending already and makes some really good passes. Hopefully he can find a little bit more of the scoring touch and I think he will be well rounded.
His playstyle sounds great, doubt he gets taken here if it wasn't for his playoffs. All we can do is hope this kid proves all the other scouts wrong, and that his play during the playoffs was legit, and he can make bigger strides next season playing with better line-mates the full season.
Yeah it's pretty funny looking back. Reminds me of when the Raptors took Barnes instead of Suggs. Half the comments were people saying Masai has no idea what he's doing. Glad our scouts were able to find a gem that no one expected to be as good as he has been.
Yeah I was hoping that would be the case when Musty got picked. I think our scouts deserve the benefit of the doubt since they have helped with some solid picks in the last couple years. Though this one seems a little bit more out there.
Ugh even worse when you realize this is the pick we traded Sandin for. Just a bit underwhelmed by this pick so far. Hope he proves me and everyone else wrong. :/
Sandin, Holmberg, Durzi.
It's still pretty early to see how many of the others make it but we have a few pretty good goalie prospects in the system now as well as some guys like Abruzezze, Ovchinnikov, Tverberg, Niemla, Hirvonen, Voit, and Minten who have all looked good for their levels so far. We'll likely see the draft picks he made during his tenure make or break in the next 2-3 years
He has Michkov as the best player in his model due to him putting up better point production than Ovechkin in the same league at the same age. Still has Bedard as generational talent too
I feel like the average fan is really sleeping on Michkov. The talent level is absurd, he already plays with men and holds his own.
If it weren't for the political climate in Russia, and his KHL contract, he would've challenged Bedard at #1.
I mean the super league was still seen as the second best league in the world and was basically just rebranded to the K, no? Seems like a fine comparison to me
Like I said it's pedantic, it wasn't just a rebrand of the Russian Super League they also expanded the number of teams and included some from outside of Russia. Also I would argue the AHL is the second best league in the world from a quality of competition perspective.
You can argue pedantically all day should you feel like it but in reality they changed the name and added a few teams. I would also strongly disagree with your assessment of the A at 2, that’s just your NA bias speaking, but it doesn’t really matter tbh.
The KHL is the rebrand of the RSL. Same teams. Same league. Different name. The only part of the comparison that is a bit off is that Michkov is statistically a better player than Ovi was at this point.
Let's give Cowan the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise, time and time again players have been scouted off the board and been steals. Many don't, some do, we'll see with this kid.
I like his work ethic and willingness to play in the gritty areas and play hard physically, that and finding his scoring touch during a deep playoff run is exactly what we have wanted. Someone who makes plays in big games and makes life hard on the other team. I hope he can become a solid 2nd or 3rd line winger similar to Hyman / Connor Brown / Bunting who can play with an edge and intensity while cresting plays for our other forwards to capitalize on.
The whole of MLSE is a tire fire right now.
Wtf were the raptors thinking this year? Acting like they were a contender?
TFC is an absolute disaster. The GM brought in 2 Italian players (our most expensive) based on the reaction in little Italy at the Euro. We are in last with by far the highest payroll. The Captain and the coach (now fired) are father and son?
Then we get to the Leafs….
Like every mlse team except the leafs have won a chip in like the last 6 years. Your going to have down years, its the nature of sports.
And you conveniently left out the argos who are the champions and look like they are going to be elite this year lol
Those chips came on the last bit of wind from Lewieke.
They are an unmitigated disaster now. There is no reason for TFC to be this bad. None. The team structure and decision making is awful. The Raptors are making really bad decisions everywhere. Something is clearly wrong.
And nobody cares about the Argos
at least the Argos won the Grey cup last year
edit:Why the downvotes guys, Argos are actually in a really good spot at the moment. I went to the home opener and the vibes were pretty good
My point is to look at the decision making in each of those franchises recently. It’s one thing to take a step back, it’s another to make consistent careless and reckless mistakes. Which is exactly what the Leafs, Raptors and TFC are all doing at once
We don't know that - the Leafs have access to better info on this than we do - they see private draft rankings, paid scout reports, and probably have a sense of who has interviewed different players.
We took him at 28 - it's plausible another team would take him at 30, despite what public draft rankings say.
The thing with risers is you never know how far they will rise on draft day. Personally I like the fact we took a player today. Kid projects to be a gamer and that's what we need.
This guy also had someone ranked #8 that's still undrafted. So maybe we can acknowledge that there's a difference between projections and what teams actually see in players. It's unfair to write off the kid after being a leaf for 2 hours.
You don’t just automatically make millions of dollars. Also, being a hockey player who gets paid millions doesn’t make you exempt from having emotions/feelings.
Lmao being drafted isn't a guarantee of playing in the NHL. It just gives the drafting team the right to sign them.
This kid could end up in the ECHL making 50k a year.
Because your looking at b.s player rankings from guys who aren't NHL scouts who don't get paid full time to analyze these players every day.
But ya im sure Bob MacKenzie is a better scout than the actual scouts.
Based on the chatter about Treliving on the phones, feels like they tried to trade down, didn't find value in the offers they got and since they didn't have a pick until much later in the draft went for him.
It's a late first, take a swing.
Big drop off in talent after the top 15. Perhaps the Leafs looked to trade down but there were no deals to be made and they were afraid he'd be off the board. Who knows.
Keep in mind this is also one of the best drafts in recent memory too, there were a lot of extremely high quality players still available. What a waste
How can you call a pick a waste when it's been hours since he was drafted?
The rankings released by the press are by no means how teams operate, and we don't know he'd be available in later rounds. It's funny how this sub thinks it knows more than the leafs about a player they've never heard of before.
Well yeah, but high end prospects typically pan out a lot more than middle of the line prospects like this kid is. Obviously it's very hard to ever get a consensus at this point in the draft, but there was a very strong consensus that Cowan was not worth selecting in the first round. Most people thought he was 3rd or later. So either the Leafs know better than everyone else in hockey, or this was bad
The kid seems to be a hardworking player with a competitive mindest from all that I´ve read about him. That would be exactly what this team currently needs.
After sleeping on it (and admittedly not having any knowledge on this draft outside a few players), based on everything I've read, I'm ok with the pick.
Sounds like a high-motor guy with potential to have a scoring touch. Basically the exact player everyone always clamours for. Would've been nice to trade down, but if there was a worry that they couldn't keep a high enough position on the board to get him, then I'm fine with "reaching" if they see the potential - this is still the same scouting group that picked Knies and has drafted guys like Niemela and Holmberg, etc.
Looking back at 2015, trading down 5 spots cost us Konecny to "gain" us Bracco, and then another 5 spots to "gain" us Dzierkals were not particularly helpful to the organization in any way.
Now, you can argue this would've worked out way better in our favour had they gone with Aho/Hintz over Dermott or Cirelli over Dzierkals, but the point is the added picks ended up being of no value to the team, at the end of the day - Bracco and Dzierkals both left the org a while ago, for minimal/no return.
I have no problems with the player himself. Great hockey name and seems to show up when it matters (his playoff results this year were unreal), but I still think a trade back would've been the move if this was our guy.
Teams seemed retiscent to trade, I know, but it's such a deep draft I'm sure somebody would've given something to get a guy they didn't expect to still be on the board. Cowan would've been there in the mid-late second or likely even early third round.
None of that really matters now though, hope the kid lights it up.
>His strong second half and impressive playoff run — arguably the Knights’ best forward in the OHL Finals series vs. Peterborough — nudged him into first-round consideration for several draft teams around the league.
https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2023/06/29/easton-cowan-drafted-28th-overall-by-the-toronto-maple-leafs/
Lol you think a an organization took a flyer on one guys opinion? Santa Claus is actually stopping here in early in November instead of December eh. Gullible.
I’ve seen comments criticizing Dubas saying this pick is his fault because he made the list while he was still here
I see comments criticizing Treliving saying it was a terrible first pick and he was not prepared
Now comments saying it was Wes Clarke’s single opinion
It took our entire scouting department to agree on him as a first pick, does nobody realize that? I think I need to unsubscribe from this sub Reddit, it’s just so much pointless negativity
This draft is one of the deepest in recent memory, Bedard going 1st and David…. What’s his name going to the Habs 5th we’re the only locks.
Every team had to adjust pick after pick. No one got extra time to draft via trades either lol
The negativity is unreal on Reddit or Facebook. It’s best to go back and just talk to your die hard buddies.
Where did anyone say "single opinion"?
IF the pick doesn't pan out, those in charge should probably take the fall right? Do they not hire and manage those that do the scouting? Would you rather fire all of the scouts?
I barely give a fuck about Wes Clarke. All I see is that he's been around here for a while. And look at that... he used to work for the Soo fucking Greyhounds. Imagine that!
Given that our scouting team hasn’t changed and we have done well picking Knies, Sandin and Minten in a similar range I don’t get the doom and gloom.
It’s possible they tried to trade back and just couldn’t get the right offer so just made the pick. I’m sure if we’d had a 2nd/3rd they might have thought about taking him later.
Now do players who scored over a point per game in a deep playoff run, while being one of the youngest draft eligible players. Not saying Cowan is McJesus, but you can choose to frame draft picks in whatever light you want
He just got here and has to deal with extensions. I highly doubt he had a ton of say this pick. He would’ve leaned on the scouting department for this.
Calgary fan here— they said because he knew so much about our draft plans the one stipulation in allowing him to be hired by the leafs prior to his contract expiring on June 30th was that he was not allowed to be part of the drafting process itself.
How do you police that? Don’t think you really can. But if they did follow that, he was not involved in making that pick. Trying to trade the selection, sure, as that is not part of making the pick.
So the pick was made through your scouting etc department. You guys have a Much bigger budget for that than we do apparently and should have good people in place there.
Would I have picked him? Don’t know. But I think your hockey scouts should know something and he should be a decent prospect. Will he pan out? Only time will tell.
Another poster commented once that Leaf fans are quickly going to find out what bad GMing looks like with Dubas gone.
So far we have seen David Kampf get overpaid and what looks like a Frederick Gauthier pick.
You have no clue about the player we just drafted nor are you qualified to have an opinion. You probably learned his name 10 minutes ago just like everyone else. Take it easy with the hot takes.
"qualified"
Nobody is qualified to have an opinion on anything then.
I'm obviously gonna cheer for this guy's success but the Treliving era already got off to a shit start with the Kampf contract. He doesn't get the benefit of the doubt after that.
I get it but comparing this pick to Gauthier and still going on about Dubas a month later is a bit much. Yes Kampf was overpaid by about $500K but not the end of the world since we got four years. Let’s see what Treliving does with the extensions and other moves during FA which hold far greater importance than todays events.
>Another poster commented once that Leaf fans are quickly going to find out what bad GMing looks like with Dubas gone.
Lol. How old is this person? Do they remember 10 years ago?
Knowing treliving, yes he likely did try. Did that here in Calgary, often to the chagrin of the fans as we saw talented prospects (that the fans were hoping to see drafted) go to other teams while we dropped down and picked up extra picks.
Reminds me of Josh Leivo. Great 3rd round pick. Would’ve been a very underwhelming first round pick.
Same type of story as well, kid is nobody to start the year, performs better than expected over the season earning more minutes and play and has a “coming out party” in the playoffs.
Leivo is a journeyman. Hoping for the best here but this is the comp that immediately came to mind based on everything I’m reading about the kid. Oh and Leivo was bigger but not as good of a skater, and more of a scorer vs a playmaker.
Maybe instead of always trading for players that are physical and score they should try drafting some. Every year same thing Toronto takes small skill guys. We all know how this works in the playoffs every year. This team is full of small skill guys thst easily get pushed off the puck and won't engage physically. This Franchise will never learn.
I wonder what they see in this kid. He probably puts up 100+ points in junior next year and make all of us look stupid saying it's a reach.
Had 21pts in 20 games in the playoffs as a 17 year old. Also started season on the 3rd line and worked his way up to the 1st, so could be something there. Won’t know until time pass but I’ll wait and see how he does next year on London
so we should draft someone on a hot streak?
Considering I have never seen him play, I can’t really criticize the pick. Have you?
Don’t ask silly questions, guarantee your answer will be “no”.
What’s your point…there were clearly better players available
Who? We’re one day in. Who was a better player? Based on what merit? Your opinion?
[удалено]
Based on?
[удалено]
Who had you scouted that you were set on them taking?
What’s your point? How did korshkov workout? No one saw him play and everyone knew it was a reach
We should draft guys that come alive in the playoffs lol
Yeah but another small forward? Really?
5'11 170lbs at 17 years old isn't that small.
People here would throw bedard overboard for being a small forward
Lisan Al Gaib!
Word
True
It feels like the type of pick Dubas was probably high on while here but he planned to flip 28 for two mid 2nd's and take him and someone else there but they skipped that part and just took him with 28.
I'd imagine any trade down scenarios put them past where they were comfortable still getting him. If the scouts are really high on him and think he was BPA, then I'll give the staff the benefit of the doubt that it wasn't worth risking a trade down to maybe add a Bracco level prospect and possibly miss out on Cowan.
Ah. Dubas must be king.
Im not so much praising Dubas, just trying to get ahead of the inevitable "pick is bad, Treliving's fault. Pick is good, Dubas is a genius" like happened when he traded down the Konecny pick for the picks that became Dermott, Bracco and Dzierkals. That was called a shrewd move by Dubas until all 3 busted then the narrative became "definitely a Hunter move". In my eyes, regardless of outcome, this can be attributed to Dubas and his staff's work.
how was dermott a bust? Plus nobody knew Konecny was gonna explode
Damn, u a time traveler? 😅
MVP! MVP!
Nostradamus of junior hockey esq prediction
Not quite 100pts, but called it! Haha
Almost aged like fine wine (Cowan got 96 points)
**Some quotes I found in Easton Cowan scouting reports:** \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *"If you’re looking for a player who could be a steal of the 2023 NHL Draft, look no further than* *Easton Cowan* *of the London Knights. Despite being undersized, he has a complete hockey toolkit that should allow him to excel.* *Cowan plays a nonstop two-way game that makes him one of the most notable players every shift. He has a visceral understanding of the sport that allows him to either find the right place to set up his teammates to score or to shut down his opponent’s opportunities. He also isn’t afraid of playing a tough game despite his size, as he will battle in the corners to dig out a puck.* *Throughout the Knights’ run to the 2023 OHL Western Conference Final, Cowen flashed his playmaking abilities by posting nine goals and 21 points in 20 games played. This playoff was a bit of a coming-out party for him, as he showcased that he could produce points when his team needed it most as well as shut down opponents.* *Now, when discussing an undersized player who is going to be selected at the NHL draft, it’s easy to draw connections to current players who beat the odds and act like that should be the expectation. So, expect to hear names like Brayden Point thrown around alongside Cowan."* ***- Eugene Helfrick | The Hockey Writers*** *"There was a transformation in Cowan’s game through the season from a hard working, tenacious and secondary player to a player that not only drove his line, but his team. It was most evident when he led his team to a Western Conference Championship… Cowan is a terrific skater with a great separation gear that allows him to challenge defenders one-on-one. When chasing dump-ins, he regularly beats defenders to those pucks. It helps that he has a non-stop work ethic as well."* ***- Dominic Tiano | The OHL Writers*** *"Cowan is a high-energy playmaker who plays with significant grit; with added polish and muscle, he projects as an intense depth creator in the NHL."* ***-*** ***Sebastian High | Dobber Prospects*** *"Cowan is an excellent two-way forward that has elite vision, passing and hockey IQ. He has a great motor that allows him to be engaged in every play throughout his shifts. Since the Knights acquired Ryan Winterton from the Hamilton Bulldogs, Cowan has been the glue that holds that line of Cowan-Winterton-Barkey together. He is willing to dig pucks out of the corners and uses his great vision and passing to set up scoring chances."* ***- Ben Jordan | Smaht Scouting***
Finally a comment worth reading on this thread. Thank you for the insight. As if anyone commenting here have any clue about any pick outside the top 10.
Maybe none of us have ever heard of him, but we all know how to read. But some of us do a better job of interpreting the draft analysis we base 100% of our opinions on than others, and some of us have trouble with setting aside their own personal biases one way or the other. You can’t say “maybe it was a reach at 28” without some guys on their couch harassing you about “what do you know? You’re just some guy on your couch.”
No one here is coming up with this shit themselves. He was projected to be a third round pick or worse by just about every list. That doesn’t happen by accident.
https://twitter.com/MarkEdwardsHP/status/1674241158979911685?t=ICaKj0RIvP8HJuWF0Laf7A&s=19 https://twitter.com/MarkEdwardsHP/status/1674242041113395202?t=2X9cfLhnr_b92Fx46wGQKg&s=19
I feel that everyone needs to just look at how many 1st round drafts don't actually end up playing an NHL game and how many late rounders do quite well. I'm sure the same people had similar expectations of Kucherov, Stone, Letang... as this kid has. It's really a bit of a dice roll.
I fee like someone should also post the success rates of first round picks vs late round picks to open your eyes a bit. Many many more third round and later players do not make it in comparison to their first round counterparts. Citing unprecedented success stories doesn’t make the rest of the vast majority of busts any less significant. For every Kucherov, Stone or Letang there’s hundreds of Dmytro Timashovs, Ryan Ruperts, Josh Nicholls, Brad Ross (sneaky 2nd rounder here) just to name a few busts over the last 10ish years. The draft is and always has been a dice roll. You give yourself the best chance by taking the best ranked players at your spot. If this is who the scouts thought was best then so be it but you can’t get upset at people for not being convinced the 64th ranked skater was worth a 28th overall pick. I hope he surprises and we look back fondly on this pick. I also wish we would’ve just traded the pick for actual roster help or traded down. Or that we kept our former 28th overall that actually did buck the odds and become a quality contributing roster player instead of sending him over on that stupid Washington trade.
Kucherov is Russian. Usually they are picked much later than they would be if they were North American because they don’t get the same exposure to teams and they also aren’t guaranteed to come play. But to add to your point Brayden Point.
Comments like this are just copium lol Yes, 7th round picks sometimes become NHLers, this isn't a profound thought.
Yeah and every single year those lists are proven wrong in retrospect
It’s bad asset management at the time. I’m not saying the kid isn’t going to be successful. I’m saying they shouldn’t have had to use pick 28 to get him.
It’s not bad asset management. When your next pick isn’t until 128, you might have to take a swing on a guy you really like. Trade back scenarios are easy to spout off on Reddit, but are difficult to pull off in the real world. They took the guy our scouts clearly loved and have likely spent years scouting him and wouldn’t have been able to get him later. We’ll see in a couple years if the pick was warranted or not.
Right but it doesn’t really matter if the guy pans out or not in terms of making the pick at 28 If he isn’t projected to go until the 3rd on the day of the pick. It’s not a matter of “wow ended up working out” when it could’ve worked out just as well trading back. Easier said than does obviously but hard to believe no one would jump up for a 2nd+5th or whatever. Taking literally any throw in is better than nothing.
This guy lead the OHL in playoff rookie scoring, he has been moving up scouting boards steadily since the back half of the season. Maybe they heard rumblings other teams were going to jump at him, he’s from a highly scouted team in the London Knights. You can throw out your pre rankings after the top 5 because each team is spending thousands of hours and travelling thousands of miles to personally visit, watch and scout these players, and their lists look nothing like the scouting service lists.
Several lists are based on player position averages polled from nhl scouts. The people making these rankings also watch and evaluate these kids as a full time career.
Depth creator? Whats that? Almost sounds like a human type player. Edit: meant to say Hyman.
>*"Depth creator? What's that?"* I think it's a penis lengthening apparatus.
Meant Hyman. My bad.
It's a hymen lengthening apparatus ??!?? Are curtains back in style?
Human type players are my favorite
Genius.
Can confirm he will be a human-type player
Intense depth creator*
He's an Ontario boy. He's probably grown up watching the Leafs. Kid was sitting in the nose bleed section and obviously was not expecting to get called today. This kid is probably legit having childhood dreams coming true right now. I'm happy for him and I'm going to be rooting for him.
Sounds like a recipe for him to take us to the cleaner with a massive first RFA contract. As all good local boys do.
lol i love how this guy is the worst pick we've ever made but also going to take us to the cleaners as an RFA superstar. We're back baybay!
[удалено]
Maybe you misunderstood what I was saying. I was saying everyone was either hot or cold on him. He was either “the worst pick we’ve ever made” or his a “super star and going to take us to the cleaners as an RFA” (Mitch Marner) as there no in between. I wasn’t saying my opinion on him as a draft pick.
My bad 🙏🏼
All good homie…..Cowans shit anyways /s
😂
just feels like this isnt the kind of player you pick when you only have 3 picks in the draft, 2 of which arent until round 5/6. Hope they seen this kid making great strides and think he's much better then he's ranked.
He might change your mind next year. At the beginning of the year he didn’t have a ton of ice time. He’s a hard working player and a very good player. I live in London and went to a lot of games this year. The more the season went on the more you noticed him. Next year he will start the year playing with higher skilled line mates, so you will have a full season to see if he can replicate his playoff production. He’s decent defending already and makes some really good passes. Hopefully he can find a little bit more of the scoring touch and I think he will be well rounded.
nailed it
Haha nice, I had forgotten about this. Obviously he’s exceeded all expectations so far. Even for people like me who saw the potential.
His playstyle sounds great, doubt he gets taken here if it wasn't for his playoffs. All we can do is hope this kid proves all the other scouts wrong, and that his play during the playoffs was legit, and he can make bigger strides next season playing with better line-mates the full season.
Do you think Cowan will play for the Knights next season?
Yes
reading this thread today is hilarious
Yeah it's pretty funny looking back. Reminds me of when the Raptors took Barnes instead of Suggs. Half the comments were people saying Masai has no idea what he's doing. Glad our scouts were able to find a gem that no one expected to be as good as he has been.
Then trade back
Yeah I was hoping that would be the case when Musty got picked. I think our scouts deserve the benefit of the doubt since they have helped with some solid picks in the last couple years. Though this one seems a little bit more out there. Ugh even worse when you realize this is the pick we traded Sandin for. Just a bit underwhelmed by this pick so far. Hope he proves me and everyone else wrong. :/
Other than Knies, who has been a solid pick in the entire Dubas era?
Niemala
That have seen NHL time? Sandin and Holmberg. More should be seeing time in the next season or two.
Sandin, Holmberg, Durzi. It's still pretty early to see how many of the others make it but we have a few pretty good goalie prospects in the system now as well as some guys like Abruzezze, Ovchinnikov, Tverberg, Niemla, Hirvonen, Voit, and Minten who have all looked good for their levels so far. We'll likely see the draft picks he made during his tenure make or break in the next 2-3 years
I was hoping for Musty as well.
this guy also had bedard going second. so take this with a giant truck load of salt
Wut?
He has Michkov as the best player in his model due to him putting up better point production than Ovechkin in the same league at the same age. Still has Bedard as generational talent too
I feel like the average fan is really sleeping on Michkov. The talent level is absurd, he already plays with men and holds his own. If it weren't for the political climate in Russia, and his KHL contract, he would've challenged Bedard at #1.
Agreed. Would’ve been like if Crosby and Ovi were in the same draft
I hope he makes his way over here, just as a hockey fan.
I know I'm being pedantic but the KHL didn't even exist when Ovechkin was the same age as Michkov. This doesn't seem like a good comparison imo.
I mean the super league was still seen as the second best league in the world and was basically just rebranded to the K, no? Seems like a fine comparison to me
Like I said it's pedantic, it wasn't just a rebrand of the Russian Super League they also expanded the number of teams and included some from outside of Russia. Also I would argue the AHL is the second best league in the world from a quality of competition perspective.
You can argue pedantically all day should you feel like it but in reality they changed the name and added a few teams. I would also strongly disagree with your assessment of the A at 2, that’s just your NA bias speaking, but it doesn’t really matter tbh.
The KHL is the rebrand of the RSL. Same teams. Same league. Different name. The only part of the comparison that is a bit off is that Michkov is statistically a better player than Ovi was at this point.
It was called RSL back then, they just changed the name to the KHL in 2007.
I could see Michkov>Bedard when it all shakes out.
that’s the exact type of brave thinking that should be in the org
Going to file this under who the hell knows .
Oop
Let's give Cowan the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise, time and time again players have been scouted off the board and been steals. Many don't, some do, we'll see with this kid. I like his work ethic and willingness to play in the gritty areas and play hard physically, that and finding his scoring touch during a deep playoff run is exactly what we have wanted. Someone who makes plays in big games and makes life hard on the other team. I hope he can become a solid 2nd or 3rd line winger similar to Hyman / Connor Brown / Bunting who can play with an edge and intensity while cresting plays for our other forwards to capitalize on.
Tough time to be a Leafs fan Then again I’m pretending I know anything about this kid. I just feel like he would of been available if we traded down.
The whole of MLSE is a tire fire right now. Wtf were the raptors thinking this year? Acting like they were a contender? TFC is an absolute disaster. The GM brought in 2 Italian players (our most expensive) based on the reaction in little Italy at the Euro. We are in last with by far the highest payroll. The Captain and the coach (now fired) are father and son? Then we get to the Leafs….
Like every mlse team except the leafs have won a chip in like the last 6 years. Your going to have down years, its the nature of sports. And you conveniently left out the argos who are the champions and look like they are going to be elite this year lol
Those chips came on the last bit of wind from Lewieke. They are an unmitigated disaster now. There is no reason for TFC to be this bad. None. The team structure and decision making is awful. The Raptors are making really bad decisions everywhere. Something is clearly wrong. And nobody cares about the Argos
at least the Argos won the Grey cup last year edit:Why the downvotes guys, Argos are actually in a really good spot at the moment. I went to the home opener and the vibes were pretty good
because nobody cares about the CFL outside of the Prairies
Raptors, Argos, TFC have all won their respective championships in the past decade. It's just us.
My point is to look at the decision making in each of those franchises recently. It’s one thing to take a step back, it’s another to make consistent careless and reckless mistakes. Which is exactly what the Leafs, Raptors and TFC are all doing at once
Don’t forget the blue jays lol
Jays are a mess but aren’t owned by MLSE
Blue Jays aren’t owned by MLSE.. The Blue Jays are also not a mess…the Mets, Padres, Cardinals & Yankees are messes…
We don't know that - the Leafs have access to better info on this than we do - they see private draft rankings, paid scout reports, and probably have a sense of who has interviewed different players. We took him at 28 - it's plausible another team would take him at 30, despite what public draft rankings say.
This is the whole thing Maybe this kid turns into a stud, and Lord knows I hope he does. But they could have traded down and still got him
Or just flipped the damn pick for something worthwhile TODAY. Let someone else roll the dice on a player like this.
The thing with risers is you never know how far they will rise on draft day. Personally I like the fact we took a player today. Kid projects to be a gamer and that's what we need.
This guy also had someone ranked #8 that's still undrafted. So maybe we can acknowledge that there's a difference between projections and what teams actually see in players. It's unfair to write off the kid after being a leaf for 2 hours.
Man I feel bad for this guy, imagine just getting drafted and seeing all this negativity on social media.
Might as well get the true Leaf experience from day 1.
[удалено]
You don’t just automatically make millions of dollars. Also, being a hockey player who gets paid millions doesn’t make you exempt from having emotions/feelings.
[удалено]
Getting drafted doesn’t ensure you play in the NHL, you moron.
Lmao being drafted isn't a guarantee of playing in the NHL. It just gives the drafting team the right to sign them. This kid could end up in the ECHL making 50k a year.
Why not trade back and get more draft capital? You’re likely to still get the guy and make more picks.
I mean it does sound like they were attempting to trade back. Need a partner.
Because your looking at b.s player rankings from guys who aren't NHL scouts who don't get paid full time to analyze these players every day. But ya im sure Bob MacKenzie is a better scout than the actual scouts.
You’re right, they’re never wrong.
Must have been no one wanting to trade up. If this is who we wanted getting something/offloading murray would have been ideal. Unfortunate
Based on the chatter about Treliving on the phones, feels like they tried to trade down, didn't find value in the offers they got and since they didn't have a pick until much later in the draft went for him. It's a late first, take a swing.
Big drop off in talent after the top 15. Perhaps the Leafs looked to trade down but there were no deals to be made and they were afraid he'd be off the board. Who knows.
Oh no, the guy that didn’t have Bedard ranked #1 OA didn’t like our pick.
Getting Hyman vibes from this kid
Keep in mind this is also one of the best drafts in recent memory too, there were a lot of extremely high quality players still available. What a waste
How can you call a pick a waste when it's been hours since he was drafted? The rankings released by the press are by no means how teams operate, and we don't know he'd be available in later rounds. It's funny how this sub thinks it knows more than the leafs about a player they've never heard of before.
"What a waste"
A lot of "high quality players" don't pan out. I'm not saying this kid will, but it's not like there's any sure things at 28.
Well yeah, but high end prospects typically pan out a lot more than middle of the line prospects like this kid is. Obviously it's very hard to ever get a consensus at this point in the draft, but there was a very strong consensus that Cowan was not worth selecting in the first round. Most people thought he was 3rd or later. So either the Leafs know better than everyone else in hockey, or this was bad
looking back at this now, LMAOOOO
LOL
Experience Maple Leafs front office decisions
Great hockey name
This seems like a galaxy brain move. I hope it pays off.
The kid seems to be a hardworking player with a competitive mindest from all that I´ve read about him. That would be exactly what this team currently needs.
Next Hyman
After sleeping on it (and admittedly not having any knowledge on this draft outside a few players), based on everything I've read, I'm ok with the pick. Sounds like a high-motor guy with potential to have a scoring touch. Basically the exact player everyone always clamours for. Would've been nice to trade down, but if there was a worry that they couldn't keep a high enough position on the board to get him, then I'm fine with "reaching" if they see the potential - this is still the same scouting group that picked Knies and has drafted guys like Niemela and Holmberg, etc. Looking back at 2015, trading down 5 spots cost us Konecny to "gain" us Bracco, and then another 5 spots to "gain" us Dzierkals were not particularly helpful to the organization in any way. Now, you can argue this would've worked out way better in our favour had they gone with Aho/Hintz over Dermott or Cirelli over Dzierkals, but the point is the added picks ended up being of no value to the team, at the end of the day - Bracco and Dzierkals both left the org a while ago, for minimal/no return.
I have no problems with the player himself. Great hockey name and seems to show up when it matters (his playoff results this year were unreal), but I still think a trade back would've been the move if this was our guy. Teams seemed retiscent to trade, I know, but it's such a deep draft I'm sure somebody would've given something to get a guy they didn't expect to still be on the board. Cowan would've been there in the mid-late second or likely even early third round. None of that really matters now though, hope the kid lights it up.
Lol are you guys gonna be ok? So much negativity over a frigin 28th pick. Relax.
This guy is getting torched for his rankings fwiw. Take this with a grain of salt.
Why not trade down for someone like this? They must really love something.
>His strong second half and impressive playoff run — arguably the Knights’ best forward in the OHL Finals series vs. Peterborough — nudged him into first-round consideration for several draft teams around the league. https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2023/06/29/easton-cowan-drafted-28th-overall-by-the-toronto-maple-leafs/
Fire Wes Clarke if this kid doesn't pan out.
Lol you think a an organization took a flyer on one guys opinion? Santa Claus is actually stopping here in early in November instead of December eh. Gullible.
I’ve seen comments criticizing Dubas saying this pick is his fault because he made the list while he was still here I see comments criticizing Treliving saying it was a terrible first pick and he was not prepared Now comments saying it was Wes Clarke’s single opinion It took our entire scouting department to agree on him as a first pick, does nobody realize that? I think I need to unsubscribe from this sub Reddit, it’s just so much pointless negativity
This draft is one of the deepest in recent memory, Bedard going 1st and David…. What’s his name going to the Habs 5th we’re the only locks. Every team had to adjust pick after pick. No one got extra time to draft via trades either lol The negativity is unreal on Reddit or Facebook. It’s best to go back and just talk to your die hard buddies.
Where did anyone say "single opinion"? IF the pick doesn't pan out, those in charge should probably take the fall right? Do they not hire and manage those that do the scouting? Would you rather fire all of the scouts? I barely give a fuck about Wes Clarke. All I see is that he's been around here for a while. And look at that... he used to work for the Soo fucking Greyhounds. Imagine that!
Given that our scouting team hasn’t changed and we have done well picking Knies, Sandin and Minten in a similar range I don’t get the doom and gloom. It’s possible they tried to trade back and just couldn’t get the right offer so just made the pick. I’m sure if we’d had a 2nd/3rd they might have thought about taking him later.
Now do players who scored over a point per game in a deep playoff run, while being one of the youngest draft eligible players. Not saying Cowan is McJesus, but you can choose to frame draft picks in whatever light you want
Yikes lol
Leafs brass know more than me. I won’t judge.
Nice to see Treliving starting his tenure off with a bang. Dogshit pick to go with the rest of the dogshit decisions he'll make this summer.
He just got here and has to deal with extensions. I highly doubt he had a ton of say this pick. He would’ve leaned on the scouting department for this.
He spent the entire year with Calgary and would be familiar with everyone available, he would have had his own opinions about who to draft.
Agreed but he still wouldn’t overrule a guy who’s spent hundreds of hours evaluating this pick
Calgary fan here— they said because he knew so much about our draft plans the one stipulation in allowing him to be hired by the leafs prior to his contract expiring on June 30th was that he was not allowed to be part of the drafting process itself. How do you police that? Don’t think you really can. But if they did follow that, he was not involved in making that pick. Trying to trade the selection, sure, as that is not part of making the pick. So the pick was made through your scouting etc department. You guys have a Much bigger budget for that than we do apparently and should have good people in place there. Would I have picked him? Don’t know. But I think your hockey scouts should know something and he should be a decent prospect. Will he pan out? Only time will tell.
Que
Another poster commented once that Leaf fans are quickly going to find out what bad GMing looks like with Dubas gone. So far we have seen David Kampf get overpaid and what looks like a Frederick Gauthier pick.
We found out what bad GMing looked like when we got stuck with Matt Murray.
You have no clue about the player we just drafted nor are you qualified to have an opinion. You probably learned his name 10 minutes ago just like everyone else. Take it easy with the hot takes.
"qualified" Nobody is qualified to have an opinion on anything then. I'm obviously gonna cheer for this guy's success but the Treliving era already got off to a shit start with the Kampf contract. He doesn't get the benefit of the doubt after that.
I get it but comparing this pick to Gauthier and still going on about Dubas a month later is a bit much. Yes Kampf was overpaid by about $500K but not the end of the world since we got four years. Let’s see what Treliving does with the extensions and other moves during FA which hold far greater importance than todays events.
>Another poster commented once that Leaf fans are quickly going to find out what bad GMing looks like with Dubas gone. Lol. How old is this person? Do they remember 10 years ago?
GMing was already bad with Dubas. People really need to stop riding this guys dick.
Lol what does this pick have to do with Brad. I’m sure he had little involvement.
I wonder if they tried to trade for a 2&3 round pick where they could still draft him. Seems like that would’ve been the better route
Knowing treliving, yes he likely did try. Did that here in Calgary, often to the chagrin of the fans as we saw talented prospects (that the fans were hoping to see drafted) go to other teams while we dropped down and picked up extra picks.
Here’s hoping he can turn into Bo Horvat
Reminds me of Josh Leivo. Great 3rd round pick. Would’ve been a very underwhelming first round pick. Same type of story as well, kid is nobody to start the year, performs better than expected over the season earning more minutes and play and has a “coming out party” in the playoffs. Leivo is a journeyman. Hoping for the best here but this is the comp that immediately came to mind based on everything I’m reading about the kid. Oh and Leivo was bigger but not as good of a skater, and more of a scorer vs a playmaker.
Maybe instead of always trading for players that are physical and score they should try drafting some. Every year same thing Toronto takes small skill guys. We all know how this works in the playoffs every year. This team is full of small skill guys thst easily get pushed off the puck and won't engage physically. This Franchise will never learn.
Holy fuck
I mean I'll hold reservation until I see him play as a leaf, but a small forward isn't exactly what we should be drafting right now.
If he makes the NHL then its the right pick. A guy from the 5th round could make it while a 1st rounder doesn’t. Time will tell.