Two Maple Leafs Prospects Likely to Play for Team Canada at the World Juniors
Hockey insiders have now predicted how Team Canada will look for this year's World Juniors, and these two Leafs are expected to make a splash.
Cowan and Minten Expected to Make Team Canada World Junior Team
The Toronto Maple Leafs have a deep prospect pool that includes several outstanding players, and this year, it looks like two of them have a shot at making Team Canada's World Junior roster. The Athletic's Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman recently released their projected lineups for Team Canada, and both Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan cracked the list.
I think you can expect Macklin Celebrini, Nate Danielson and Owen Beck to be locks down the middle, though, which really only leaves one job up for grabs. I've pencilled Breydan Yager into it because it made sense to keep him with Moose Jaw teammate and frequent linemate Jagger Firkus. This group is deeper in right-shot wingers than left-shot ones so it made more sense for guys like Geekie and Minten (both lefties) to go over.
Both Minten and Cowan had extremely good NHL camps this year with the Toronto Maple Leafs, as Minten stayed for his 4 games at the beginning of the year before being sent back to junior. Cowan also impressed, staying much longer through camp than many expected.
Cowan Predicted to Play on Team Canada's Fourth Line as an 18-Year-Old
Easton Cowan is one of the most interesting draft picks by the Leafs in recent history. He wasn't well known by many before the Leafs picked him 28th overall this year. Now, he has made his mark after a successful first training camp with the Leafs.
Wheeler and Pronman have predicted that Cowan will get some penalty-killing minutes for Team Canada while playing on their fourth line, as he brings the speed and intensity that Team Canada's fourth lines are well known for.
tic-tac-toe
As seen on The Athletic - "World juniors 2024 roster predictions: We pick Canada, USA, Sweden and Finland"
| POLL | ||
Do you think Cowan will make the Leafs next year? | ||
| Yes | 460 | 68 % |
| No | 216 | 32 % |
| List of polls | ||
