The Maple Leafs beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena. Wednesday is a day off for the team.
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Jim Hiller knew Easton Cowan was good. The Leafs coach didn’t know he was this good.
“I can’t say enough good things about him, honestly,” Hiller raved after watching the sophomore winger produce three points in Tuesday’s win in Columbus. “He’s exceeded my expectations and I had high expectations for him.”
Cowan is logging shifts on the league’s top-ranked penalty kill and just earned a promotion to Toronto’s top line beside Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic. The 21-year-old made it clear to Hiller that he was ready for more during their conversations before the season began.
“He told me this is what he was going to do, and so he’s living up to his end of the bargain,” Hiller said.
“A lot of players, they have high expectations for themselves,” the coach continued. “But as a young player, it’s hard to fulfill those expectations this early, especially some of the stuff with his game that he had to change a little bit. But he’s done it. He’s done it so far.”
Cowan is up to 10 points in 11 games. He’s tied for third on the team with eight even-strength points behind only Matthews and William Nylander. He leads the team in takeaways.
The hard lessons learned during a rookie season that saw Cowan produce 29 points in 66 games with a struggling Leafs team are now being applied.
“Just understanding how the NHL works,” Hiller said of Cowan’s evolution. “It’s one thing how junior works. It’s one thing how college works. It’s one thing how the American League works. How does the NHL work? And you’ve got to understand that and I think he’s gotten there.”
Cowan capped his first season of professional hockey by helping the Toronto Marlies win the Calder Cup title. During the short off-season that followed, the pride of Mount Brydges, Ont. focused on getting leaner and winning more puck battles along the wall.
“It was evident when he got back to camp, he’s taken a step,” said defenceman Marshall Rifai, who played with Cowan in the American Hockey League. “He’s more confident. He’s quicker, more assertive.”
Cowan’s confidence was evident on his first career short-handed goal in Columbus. He called his own number on a 2-on-1 rush with Nylander.
“I think the goalie was favouring Willy, which I probably would too,” Cowan said with a laugh. “So, yeah, I just picked my spot. It felt good.”
Hiller promoted Cowan to the top line on Monday because Nylander was recovering from an illness and he wanted a full strength unit to match against Macklin Celebrini. Toronto held the San Jose Sharks centre off the scoresheet in a 3-1 win.
“It’s pretty fun,” Cowan said of top-line duty. “I mean, two elite players, so I just try to bring my speed and hound some pucks and try to make some plays.”
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Cowan picked up an assist on Matthews’ eighth goal of the season on Tuesday.
“For me, personally, just his leadership, it goes a long way,” Cowan said. “And you guys see what he does on the ice, but off the ice he’s just as good. He’s been great for us and he’s our captain for a reason.”
Before Monday’s game, Matthews declared he wanted to inject some emotion into the team as the Leafs looked to snap a three-game skid (0-2-1). The captain promptly delivered a three-point effort against the Sharks.
With Toronto trailing 1-0 in Columbus, Matthews made a strong move to the net on a power play to set up a goal by Kirill Marchenko.
“Our leaders led the way,” said Rifai. “Auston was unbelievable again. [Morgan] Rielly was unbelievable. So I think our leaders really stepped up. Our best players were our best players, and that’s why we got the two points.”
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Returning to Columbus for the first time since a blockbuster trade on the eve of the season, Marchenko heard boos every time he touched the puck.
“Oh, it’s fine,” the 26-year-old Russian said. “I ready for that ... I can’t control that. I appreciate all fans who’s been here when I played, and it doesn’t matter for me. Actually, I just do my work on the ice and try to be better.”
The Jackets very briefly welcomed Marchenko back on the video board in the first period with the CeeLo Green song ‘Forget You’ blasting.
Marchenko was a fan favourite during a four-year run in the Ohio capital. He led the team in goals in each of the last three seasons. But during the summer, he made it known he wanted out and didn’t explain why upon meeting the media at the start of training camp. The Jackets eventually traded him to the Leafs in exchange for a package that included winger Matthew Knies.
Before Tuesday’s reunion, Adam Fantilli admitted it was hard not to take Marchenko’s departure personally considering they were supposed to be linemates this season. The Jackets centre pledged to play Marchenko hard and delivered a big hit in the first period.
“Good hit,” Marchenko said. “A couple guys hit me. I take it as fine. It’s not a surprise. But it’s a good hit, actually. Really, [I] need to be aware next time and heads up quicker or maybe shot quicker. That’s it .... Happy to win. I can take so many hits if we win the game. If we have the two points, it’s so nice.”
Marchenko smiled throughout his media session.
Down the hall, the mood was much, much different.
“They’re on a back-to-back,” Fantilli told reporters. “We’ve been waiting for them. We gotta have it, whatever that looks like. The intensity. Our game. Getting on top of them. There’s absolutely zero excuses.”
Knies, meanwhile, saw his point drought stretch to six games. He took a penalty and finished minus-one while failing to make a major impact in the game.
“It sucks,” the 24-year-old told reporters. “I mean, every night I want to have a good performance. We want to win, we want to, you know, be able to leave the rink with our heads held high [knowing] that we gave a good effort and tried our best. It doesn’t kind of feel that way tonight.”
Knies was dropped to the second line at Columbus’ practice on Wednesday.
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Rielly refused to answer when asked about Cowan’s development.
“He’s in the room,” the 32-year-old defenceman said with a grin while peering at Cowan, who was waiting for his turn in front of the microphones. “I can’t answer that question.”
Rielly was asked again.
“No, no, not with him standing right there,” he insisted before walking past a smiling Cowan.
Cowan was more than happy to pump Rielly’s tires.
“Another great leader on and off the ice,” he said.
Rielly, like Cowan, had three points in Columbus. His two assists in the second period helped the Leafs burn the Jackets in transition.
“Those two plays he made, that was vintage Morgan,” said Hiller, who also coached Rielly early in his career when he was an assistant in Toronto. “Up in the play, tape-to-tape pass (snaps fingers), skating, joining, and so I was really happy for him on those two plays because that’s his game offensively ... Good night for him.”
Rielly did not have a three-point night all of last season. The last time it happened was April 13, 2025.
Rielly had been limited to just one assist in the previous seven games while watching his ice time tick down last week.
Rielly highlighted the team’s straightforward approach against the Jackets.
“I think as a group, you know, we’ve had a tendency to overcomplicate things or try to make too many plays,” the longest-serving Leaf said. “I think when we’re able to keep it simple and if we just kind of manage the puck our big guys can kind of take over and I think that’s kind of what happened here.”
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The Leafs posted their most lopsided win of the season despite losing gritty defenceman Jake McCabe to an injury in the first period. McCabe was bloodied after taking a stick to the face from Kent Johnson in the first period.
McCabe was held out of the rest of the game for precautionary reasons, Hiller said.
“I bumped into him, seems to be doing okay,” the coach added. “But we just want to make sure we go slow.”
McCabe was spotted in the bowels of the arena after the game with bruising around his eye.
“It’s always a bit scary when that happens, especially when it’s up high,” Rielly said. “I think he’s doing alright.”
“Really grateful that it looks like it wasn’t as bad as we originally thought,” said Rifai. “That was scary there for a second. He’s a huge piece of this team and he’ll be back in, helping us.”
That’s good news for a Leafs team that’s currently missing defenceman Chris Tanev, who is week-to-week with an undisclosed upper-body issue.
The Leafs host the New York Rangers on Thursday before travelling to Edmonton to face Connor McDavid and the Oilers on Saturday.
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With McCabe out, Rifai stepped up and played 19 minutes and 14 seconds. The most he played in his previous four NHL games was 11 minutes and 46 seconds.
Hiller revealed that the coaching staff wasn’t sure if Rifai should draw in and play his second game of the season and first since Oct. 13. They ultimately decided that his size (6-foot-2, 211 pounds) earned him the nod over Nick Blankenburg (5-foot-9, 179 pounds) against a bigger Jackets team.
“He’s been waiting patiently,” Hiller said. “He’s kind of a big, strong guy, and we really needed him [in this game]. What a night for him. We didn’t expect this much, and to cap it off with a goal, that’s a pretty special night.”
Rifai’s first career NHL goal came late in the third period.
“I thought maybe Auston touched it so I kind of waited there,” Rifai said with a smile. “But it was a cool moment for sure.”
The 28-year-old Harvard product is hoping the moment may provide a bit more confidence although he’s also keeping things in perspective.
“Ultimately, you know, that’s not going to be my calling card to help this team,” he stressed. “I understand that. I’m going to have to block shots. I’m going to have to break pucks out, you know, use my feet and close space. You know, those are the things that are going to keep me around. And I’m just trying to earn my teammates’ respect first and foremost and build off that.”
How does he earn respect?
“That’s a good question. I think that’s something that’s not done in one day. It builds over time and I’ve got to continue to stack good days, make sure they know I’m a guy they can count on, and bring an honest effort and a good attitude to the rink every day.”
Rifai and Rielly tied for the team lead with four blocked shots on Tuesday.
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Leafs lines at start of Tuesday’s game:
Cowan - Matthews - Roslovic
Marchenko - Paul - Nylander
McKenna - Sissons - Lettieri
Duhaime - Blueger - MacEwen
McCabe - Raddysh
Rielly - Stecher
Rifai - Ekman-Larsson
Stolarz starts
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