Maple Leafs made their final decision on Easton Cowan

The Maple Leafs were open to moving Easton Cowan this summer. Two games into the season, that door is closing fast.

Toronto had off-season discussions that could have involved the 21-year-old, according to Elliotte Friedman. Then his stock inside the building climbed before the puck even dropped.

Friedman put it bluntly on the 32 Thoughts podcast: "Toronto's desire to move Cowan has really decreased."

Last night showed why. The Leafs edged the Islanders 2-1 at home, and the young winger had a hand in both goals.

He buried the power-play winner and set up Colton Sissons for the other. He also fired 3 shots on goal in 13:23 of ice time.

That gives him 3 points through 2 games, good for the team lead from a third-line role alongside Sissons and Nick Paul.

Auston Matthews, meanwhile, sits without a point and owns a -2 rating. William Nylander has 2 goals but carries the same minus.

Cowan is outproducing Matthews on a $900,000 cap hit

The cap math is almost comical. Matthews carries a $13,250,000 hit, and the guy making a sliver of that is the one driving the offense.

Two games is a tiny sample. Still, a winger earning power-play touches under Jim Hiller this early is building trust in a hurry.

Hiller's first season behind the Toronto bench opened at 1-1-0, with the Leafs scoring 4 and allowing 4. Somebody has to tilt the ice.

Anthony Stolarz did his part on Wednesday, stopping 26 of 27 shots. The scoring support in front of him has been thin.

Gavin McKenna, the 18-year-old everyone in this market is watching, is still hunting his first point after going minus-2 over the opening back-to-back.

Here's where I land. Trading Cowan now would be like selling your car the same week it finally stops making that noise.

Cheap forwards who score, win puck battles and drive opponents up the wall are hard to find. So what exactly would Toronto be chasing in return?

Ottawa visits Saturday night. If the third line keeps carrying this team, how long can Hiller justify keeping Cowan out of the top six?

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