CHL notebook: Maple Leafs prospect Cowan enjoying having Matthews as tutor

Future NHL stars are developing in the Canadian Hockey League this season. Each week, NHL.com will highlight a few of the top NHL-affiliated prospects in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.

Easton Cowan gets a lot of benefits from being a Toronto Maple Leafs prospect. One of them is having a three-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner on speed dial.

Cowan has done well for himself since the Maple Leafs selected the forward with the No. 28 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, including 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) in 21 games with London of the OHL this season.

But the 19-year-old has gotten a big assist from Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, who has given Cowan tips on improving his shot.

"He's taught me a lot on how to shoot and what to do," Cowan said. "He's helped me out a lot. ... Just on my [one-timers], how to hit the puck, where to hit it, how high to bring your stick, just stuff like that. And that's going to help me out a lot."

Some of the tips would come during offseason workouts, but the two also speak during the season.

"He's an awesome kid," Matthews said. "You see how passionate he is and how badly he wants it. I think for young guys like that it's important to build a relationship with them. He's going to be a big part of our team and our organization for years to come. And he's still super young.

"I try to reach out to him every once in a while. Spent some time in the summer together in Muskoka [Ontario] at John's [Toronto center Tavares] place, doing some training together. I'm a big fan of his. I think he's going to be a great player for us for a long time."

As much as Cowan sees Matthews as a future teammate, he also is a hockey fan who understands just what it means to have one of the top players in the NHL one text message away.

"Yeah, 100 percent," Cowan said. "He's taught me a lot, and it's exciting for sure.

"Obviously he's got secrets how he scores, and obviously we shoot completely different, but just the little tips he's been giving me helped a lot."

Those tips have helped Cowan's offensive game in all phases. He has a point in all 21 games he has played this season, plus one in his final 36 regular-season games (25 goals, 43 assists) last season. The last time he played in a regular-season game and didn't have a point was Nov. 24, 2023.

However, the streak isn't on his mind as much as continuing to grow all aspects of his game.

"I feel like I'm more of a 200-foot player this year," he said. "I've learned a lot. I feel like I'm stronger mentally too, for sure."

That all-around game is more of what the Maple Leafs are looking for.

"We all know he can put up points; it's how he plays," Toronto assistant general manager/player development Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser said. "It's the habits, the little details of the game that make the difference is really what we'd like to see him focus on. So whether it's good puck management, keeping the shifts short, playing the game the right way, be a hound on the puck, be physical. The things that are his superpowers that make him the great player that he is, just to continue to do those things. Not to cheat on either side of the puck and keep playing the game the right way.

"And that's not always easy to do when you're on a really dominant team (London has an OHL-best .829 points percentage). You play a lot of ice, you can stay out there as long as you want. So that's a mental challenge for him and I think those are the things we're looking at. The points? We could care less at this point. We all know what he can do."

Cowan's mental strength also will be something the Maple Leafs watch. He was part of two straight Canada teams that were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the World Junior Championship. He tied for the team lead with three points (one goal, two assists) in five games at the 2025 WJC.

But this is an area where Wickenheiser has specific knowledge; a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame with four Olympic gold medals for Canada (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014), she said it was winning silver at the 1998 Nagano Olympics that remains a sore point.

"There's no athlete that I've ever met that hasn't had success after having gone through some form of adversity, whether it's injury, cuts, losing," she said. "It's part of life as a professional athlete, and whether it happens early or later, it's going to happen. I think that's the only guarantee.

"And so the way that I sort of would think of this with Easton is losing [stinks]. Nobody wants to lose. But if you're going to fail, you've got to fail forward, and take that lesson, and every day you get up now, that drives you to want to never feel that way again. I can only say that because I experienced that at the same age, at 19 years old, on a silver medal with Team Canada where gold was the only option. For a year, it drove me crazy, and it drives you to be better if you let it.

"It can take you one way or the other, but with Easton I know it's going to take him the other way. For him, the biggest challenge is likely going to be to take the pressure off himself, not put more of it on himself."

Cowan's sole focus with his return to London is continuing to push to keep the Knights atop the OHL standings and focus on the details in his game that will help him once he turns pro and possibly finds a spot next to Matthews in the Maple Leafs dressing room next season.

"Just keep going, have my dog-on-a-bone mentality," he said. "Keep working hard and keep playing your game, and good things will come."

OTHERS TO WATCH

Angus MacDonell, C, Brampton: The Dallas Stars prospect had a four-game goal streak upon returning to the lineup Dec. 28 after missing two months because of an injury. He has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past six games, including a goal and an assist in a 5-2 win at Kitchener on Friday. Brampton has points in five of six games with MacDonell back (4-1-1) after losing seven in a row (0-4-3). Selected by the Stars in the sixth round (No. 189) of the 2023 draft, the 19-year-old has 20 points (12 goals, eight assists) in 16 games this season.

Matyas Melovsky, C, Baie-Comeau: The New Jersey Devils prospect scored two goals, including the game-winner, in a 5-2 win against Blainville-Boisbriand on Jan. 4. It was his third straight game with at least two points, including a season-best four points (one goal, three assists) in a 5-2 win at Sherbrooke on Dec. 31. His point streak ended in a 6-1 win at Victoriaville on Thursday, but the 20-year-old, selected in the sixth round (No. 171) of the 2024 NHL Draft, has 40 points (12 goals, 28 assists) in 30 games this season.

Emmitt Finnie, C, Kamloops: The Detroit Red Wings prospect had a goal and an assist in a 5-4 overtime win against Vancouver on Friday to give him 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) during a 10-game point streak. The 19-year-old, selected in the seventh round (No. 201) of the 2023 draft, leads Kamloops with 56 points (22 goals, 34 assists) in 35 games.