The ball is in his court, really. The Leafs have some left-side strength in the top-9 assuming they resign Tavares and move him to the wing.
Cowan had a decent, but not exceptional year in the OHL, but it wasn’t just his playoff that’s noteworthy. He ramped up his play at the end of the year after coming back from injury – in the final 10 games of the season he posted 24 points, and then carried that 2.4 pts / game into the playoffs putting up another 39 in 17 games (2.3 ppg) and of course added 7 more points in 3 Memorial Cup games (2.3 ppg).
Asked what his focus was in the off-season, he said he knew what he had to do and that was get stronger and build muscle. He also noted that it was all up to him as to whether he was ready for the NHL next year or not.
Personally I like his drive and determination. The one thing we’ve yet to see is him dominate on a larger stage against peers, and here I’m particularly referring to the WJC. In both preseasons he’s played, he was predictably overwhelmed as an 18 year old in the preseason, and then – while better, and given every opportunity to step up – also didn’t really impress in last year’s camp. I don’t think you’d typically expect a smaller late first round pick to make those steps that quickly, so it’s not really a knock on him, but it’s noting that he may still have a bit of work to do.
He was 5’11 / 170 when he was drafted and was listed at 6’0 / 185 this year on London, so he is getting bigger and for comparative purposes, it’s the same height and 5 pounds heavier than Marner.
Simply put, though – if he’s ready and can crack the top-9, he’s 20 years old – there’s nothing that says he couldn’t do it and nothing that says he doesn’t deserve the opportunity. If he still could use some time to get used to the pace, there’s no harm in that either. Let him get his sea legs in the AHL and learn from that experience. If I were the GM I would plan for him to not make the team, and if he emerges, Treliving likely has a player he can trade to recoup some picks.