Cowan Cruising Towards Roster Spot with Maple Leafs After Latest Report?

After spending all summer speculating on whether or not Easton Cowan had a legitimate claim to be on the Toronto Maple Leafs' opening night roster, his training camp has left Craig Berube and the rest of the staff wanting a little bit more.

Ahead of their third pre-season contest against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, Berube gave Cowan a dream opportunity to play alongside Mitch Marner and Max Domi. He wanted Cowan to get back to the basics and his play his natural game.

Berube liked what he saw from his youngster and even said that he was extremely noticeable among many other complimentary things. Cowan skated 15:28 TOI, registered 3 shots on goal, dropped 2 hits, and blocked 1 shot in the 2-1 loss.

Tonight he will be getting his 4th game in as many opportunities and in doing so, he is the only Maple Leaf to appear in all 4 contests thus far.

With less than 2 weeks remaining until the start of the season and camp rosters needing to be reduced, is this a way for Berube to give Cowan as many NHL reps as possible before his debut? Or are they still undecided and want to see as much as possible before they send him back to London.

The Maple Leafs are rolling with a young and inexperienced roster tonight and this could be the perfect opportunity for Cowan to flex his muscles, show off his skill-set, and attempt to stake his claim to an NHL spot in October.

As Berube noted from Thursday's game, he saw a lot of good things from Cowan and was extremely impressed. Giving him another game could be the ultimate test in figuring out whether or not Cowan has the chops to make his season debut on the 9th of October.