Auston Matthews is raving about Easton Cowan, and the Toronto Maple Leafs forward's numbers back up every word.
“I really love playing with him,” Matthews said. “Super, super easy guy to play with, very smart.”
He wasn't finished: “Can make plays all over the ice, but he's also defensively very responsible and you can kind of see the maturity that's grown in his game too.”
Cowan has 12 points through 13 games this season. He's also a +3.
The kid is 21. His cap hit is $900,000.
He's been even sharper lately, with 6 points over his last 5 games.
Saturday night, he chipped in an assist as the Leafs beat the Oilers 7-2 in Edmonton for their fourth straight win.
Auston Matthews makes his feelings about Easton Cowan crystal clear
Some corners of Leafs Nation are already calling him Mitch Marner's replacement. The man he'd be replacing carries a $12,000,000 cap hit in Vegas.
Slow down. A month of hockey doesn't make anybody the next Marner, and hanging that label on Cowan this early is a bad idea.
It's like handing the new hire the corner office after one good quarterly report.
“You just see his evolution over the last couple of years,” Matthews said. “He's gotten bigger, stronger, faster.”
The production shows up in big spots, too. Two of his 5 goals have been game-winners.
And what's Matthews getting out of the arrangement?
Plenty. The Leafs' top scorer has 19 points and a +7 rating.
He also scored in Edmonton, one of six different Leafs to find the net on Saturday.
Anthony Stolarz handled the other end, stopping 30 of 32 shots.
Jim Hiller has another young forward producing, too. Gavin McKenna has 8 points at 18.
John Tavares is out until at least November 27 with a lower-body injury, which puts even more on the kids up front.
The Leafs head to Calgary Monday, then swing through Seattle and Vancouver to finish the road trip.
Keep this up through that stretch, and Hiller is going to have a hard time ever splitting Cowan and Matthews up.
Source : Auston Matthews' latest comments will make Mitch Marner jealous
Is it too early to call Easton Cowan the Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner replacement?
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