Leafs go WAY off the board with 28th overall pick on day one of the draft
Coming into tonight's draft, there was a lot of speculation over what the Leafs would do with the 28th overall pick. The most common train of thought was that the Leafs would either trade down to recoup some additional draft capital or trade the pick outright in a deal for some more immediate help.
While we thought we had a pretty good read on what the Leafs would do on night one of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, when they stepped up to the podium, I don't think anyone could have been prepared to hear the name Easton Cowan called. Why, exactly? Because nobody had him ranked above 34th overall (TSN's Craig Button). In fact, Button was the only scout who had Cowan listed in the top 50.
Leafs head of scouting, Wes Clark, spoke with the media on Tuesday, a full day before the first round of the draft, and revealed that the Leafs would be targeting intelligent, competitive players above all else. When Cowan's name was announced as the Leafs' 1st round pick, there may have been a lot of raised eyebrows, but the Leafs got a player who fits Clark's description of what the Leafs were looking for to a T. Here's what Elite Prospects has to say about Cowan's game:
"A highly intelligent and creative forward. He creates opportunities by out-speeding and out-dangling the opposition. Cowan's hockey sense matches the quickness in his feet, he's able to link passing plays in transition, manipulate defensive gaps with clever movements and feints, and find pockets of space in the slot."
With names like Andrew Cristall, David Edstrom, Bradly Nadeau and Riley Heidt still on the board when the Leafs stepped up to the podium, I think the biggest shock was that the Leafs didn't just trade back into the top of the 2nd round to select Cowan there and pick up an extra draft pick or two in the process.
A questionable pick at #28 for sure, but I'm sure we'll learn a lot more about Cowan in the coming days as more information continues to trickle in. Once we see him in training camp in September, we may have a better idea of what the Leafs saw in the Mount Brydges, Ontario product.
Cowan really made a name for himself this year when he posted 21 points in 20 playoff games for the London Knights.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 28 | 379 ANSWERS Leafs go WAY off the board with 28th overall pick on day one of the draft Should the Leafs have traded down if they were dead set on drafting Easton Cowan? | ||
| Yes, absolutely | 214 | 56.5 % |
| No, I'm fine with the pick | 165 | 43.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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