It would be a surprise if Cowan made the team out of camp, but given the Leafs have a handful of Toronto Marlies looking to make the jump, such as
Alex Steeves,
Nick Abruzzese,
Ryan Tverberg and others, adding one of those players who have a more diverse skillset to the bottom-six would benefit the Leafs more than having Gregor in the lineup. Not to mention those players would cost significantly less than Gregor who will likely end up with a contract of $1M or more and for the Leafs, every dollar they can save on role players will go a long way to rebuilding their blueline.