News of whether or not Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect Easton Cowan will make his NHL debut on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings will have to wait for game day.
The Maple Leafs’ first-round pick from 2023, 28th overall, has earned recognition for his performance in training camp and preseason from both head coach Craig Berube and general manager Brad Treliving. For the first time in three camps with the team, he made enough noise to get him on the roster for the team’s season-opener. He didn’t dress on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens, and he wasn’t taking regular line rushes with the main group, but head coach Craig Berube refused to confirm or deny if Cowan would be making his debut in the second game of the season.
Craig Berube liked Easton Cowan’s practice today & says the 20-year-old is “close” to making his NHL debut
“That’s decisions we have to discuss & make. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”@TSN_Sports
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 10, 2025
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Cowan played in five of six preseason games, looking the most comfortable on a line with Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz. While there was some speculation that this combination might have been the fourth line to open the season, an injury to Laughton after blocking a shot sent the projections into a blender, which ended up with Cowan on the outside looking in.
Nevertheless, Cowan seems to be close to making his debut whether that will be on Saturday or on Monday when the Red Wings come back to Toronto. The priority for both Treliving and Berube seems to be making sure that Cowan is playing one way or another, so if Berube decides that there isn’t a fit for Cowan right now, he’ll likely be sent to the AHL where he’ll get top line minutes.
“Easton has had a really good camp. I think he’s right there, ready to play for us,” Treliving said earlier this week. “If he’s going to be playing with us here, great, but if he’s not, I want him playing.”
Aside from Cowan skating as an extra and rotating with Nick Robertson on the second power play unit, there were no other changes to the Maple Leafs’ lines following their 5-2 win in the home opener against Montreal.
Lines at Leafs practice
Knies – Matthews – Maccelli
McMann – Tavares – Nylander
Joshua – Domi – Robertson
Lorentz – Roy – Jarnkrok
Cowan, BlaisMcCabe – Tanev
Rielly – Carlo
Benoit – Ekman-Larsson
MyersStolarz
Primeauat Detroit tomorrow @TSN_Sports
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 10, 2025
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The Maple Leafs will look to strike in their early divisional matchups as they get set for a home-and-home with the Red Wings, starting on the road Saturday.
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