Berube gives rookie Cowan a reset as Maple Leafs struggle

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That thud heard in the newcomers’ end of the Maple Leafs dressing room this past week was Easton Cowan hitting the proverbial wall.

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For every sure-fire Calder Trophy winner, many other rookies find their NHL learning curve is not without impediments. Toronto has been a tough place to raise a kid most of this season as the team wallows near the Eastern Conference basement.

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Cowan spent just two games with the AHL Marlies, where some believed he should spend the whole season experiencing multi-faceted roles. The point-a-game Memorial Cup-winning London Knight played 14:05 in his NHL debut against Detroit, sat awhile after his first pro goal, then embarked on a 16-game run with seven points.

Following another press box stint over Christmas, he contributed to the team’s surge back into Eastern Conference wild-card contention, in what looked like the ideal home on a third line with rugged centre Nicholas Roy and a hot Nick Robertson.

Nearly invisible versus Kraken

But a home stand during which the Leafs played every second day and won none of the five games, followed by Cowan’s near-invisible night in Seattle with 9:44 of ice and nothing but two giveaways on the game sheet, forced a change.

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Cowan was out of the Leafs lineup Saturday for their game in Vancouver to accommodate William Nylander’s return. While we could puzzle about coach Craig Berube sitting Cowan and his youthful energy ahead of unproductive veterans a few weeks ago, this was the right move.

“I’m definitely learning a lot, but definitely have way more in my game to give,” Cowan told the Toronto Sun a day before the Leafs flew west. “I have to get back to playing faster than I have, keep moving my feet, playing a bit harder you could say. Instead of just checking, finish my check.”

Cowan had 17 points in his first 43 games. Throwing his 190-pound frame around (last summer’s growth spurt got him to six feet) endeared him to Berube and both he and the 5-foot-9 Robertson get marks for trying to keep up the physicality inspired by the 6-foot-4 Roy.

“There’s a lot of hockey against grown men, so I’m just trying to adapt,” Cowan said. “The fact the schedule is like this (compacted due to the February Olympics) is good for me, I think. It’s crazier than a normal year. Next year, there’s still a lot of games (up to 84 with an early September start) but they’re not as close together.”

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Treliving’s time to evaluate his roster

The Olympic break will be time for Leafs general manager Brad Treliving to assess a number of personnel matters. The trade deadline is five weeks away, the Leafs could be sellers as opposed to buyers as determined by this Western Canadian trip, and maybe there is a review on whether a moribund roster with incessant media pressure on it is the right place to keep Cowan.

“To me, he’s lost a little bit of his swagger and that’s a big part of his game,” Berube told media in Vancouver before Saturday’s game. “Maybe he’s worried about making mistakes. Just little things like that getting in the way of him being successful. When a team is not at its best, it’s going to affect those (young) guys a bit more.”

It’s not helping optics for the Leafs that two prospects they traded for deadline help last year, Fraser Minten (Cowan’s good friend, sent to the Boston Bruins) and Nikita Grebenkin (sent to the Philadelphia Flyers), have both excelled, totalling four points in a head-to-head meeting Thursday.

The Leafs sent young centre Jacob Quillan back to the Marlies on Saturday to accommodate Nylander’s activation from LTIR. Depending on which forwards get moved this season or by the start of the next training camp, Quillan could also work his way on to the NHL roster.

Lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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