Observations from the Maple Leafs’ first two preseason games

The Toronto Maple Leafs are 0-2 in preseason so far. After a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday afternoon and then a 4-3 overtime loss to Ottawa the following night, I’ve come to the conclusion that the one and only takeaway from this is that the Leafs need to blow it up. Trade everyone, fire anyone with or without a name tag, and move the franchise to Tucson, Arizona. 

Just kidding. Imagine if we were serious though?

For real, at this time of year, it feels like we always have to tap the sign. In this case, the sign reads “it’s only preseason”. This goes for both the good and the bad. While preseason hockey is great for keeping tabs on younger players and those who might not have a guaranteed spot out of camp, taking anything away from the actual results of games is wrong and won’t get you anywhere. 

So, with that in mind, I’m going to highlight a couple of observations I had from watching the first two preseason games of the year. Only, I’m going to ignore the actual results of the game and zero in on a few things I noticed out of certain players’ individual performance. 

Easton Cowan doesn’t want to go back to London

When the Maple Leafs drafted Cowan 28th overall in the 2023 draft, lots of people, myself included, were skeptical. Not to his fault, obviously. He can’t help where he’s selected. But for the Leafs to draft a player most experts didn’t have ranked until the third round with their first round pick, there was naturally going to be some questions about it. You knew it was a reach of a pick when the camera panned to him and his family, and they were seated in the furthest possible corner of the arena. He likely wasn’t expecting to hear his name called that day. 

Well, perhaps we should acknowledge that Maple Leafs director of scouting Wes Clark likely knows what he’s talking about. It’s still far too early to say whether that pick was a reach, or if the Leafs were onto something that most other teams weren’t, but to say he’s made a good impression in his first couple of games in a Leafs uniform would be an understatement. 

Between the Traverse City rookie tournament and the one preseason game he appeared in, he’s been doing everything you could ask of a player who’s looking to make a good first impression. Go ahead and point out the fact that it’s only one game and half of the opponent was made up of AHLers, but when you’re 18 years old and the head coach of your NHL team tells the media he had to keep reminding himself not to throw you on the ice every other shift, you’re doing something right. 

Coming off a strong three-game rookie tournament that saw Cowan lead the team in assists (4), points (6), PIMs (4) and add two goals of his own, he took the ice at Scotiabank Arena for the first preseason game of his career and didn’t disappoint. He opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs, completing a nice tic-tac-toe with Noah Gregor and Nick Abruzzese, and tallied an assist on the Leafs’ second goal, a tip-in courtesy of Joseph Blandisi. He had a real nose for the net, displayed some excellent speed, worked out two breakaways and earned a penalty shot on one of them. He certainly didn’t look like a rookie getting his feet wet for the first time. 

I could sit here and talk about Cowan all day, but my colleague Steven Ellis already did that if you want to read more about his performance. He’ll almost certainly be heading back to London before the start of the regular season, but he’s being rewarded with at least one more preseason game before they send him back. 

Nylander and Domi are developing chemistry early 

If you play for the Leafs, a good way to ensure you get talked about in the Toronto media circle (outside of just existing) is by catching the attention of Keefe. It worked for Cowan after his first game, and before that, it worked for William Nylander and Max Domi. 

Keefe and general manager Brad Treliving got the content bus moving right off the bat at training camp, dropping the bombshell that Nylander would likely be spending some time at centre to start the season, assuming preseason goes well at least. What’s even more interesting is that this doesn’t stem from a desire to move John Tavares to the wing. Meaning, they seem pretty into the idea of having Matthews, Tavares, and Nylander down the middle. 

One way to boost the odds of this experiment working out for the Leafs is by giving Nylander a player he can feed off offensively. Enter Domi.