Maple Leafs development camp: Awards, observations and questions for Easton Cowan, more

New York Times

05-07-2025

The 2025 Maple Leafs development camp is nearly in the books, and The Athletic was there throughout. Let's take a look at some of the better performances we saw as well as questions, awards and other observations.
First, it was Jake Muzzin. Now, 2024 first-round pick Ben Danford is benefiting from the one-on-one tutelage of Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev, whom he has worked with multiple times over the summer at the Leafs' practice facility.
Danford's goal is to 'watch what Tanev does, emulate it and build it into my game.'
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'He is someone I've looked up to (for) the last couple of years. If I could play even close to his level at the NHL, I'd be super lucky,' Danford said.
The prospect is trying to focus on making more effective breakout plays and adding more subtle tools to his defensive skill set.
Danford will spend nearly all of his summer in Toronto around the Leafs. The Leafs wouldn't put together this plan if they didn't see potential in his future.
At development camp, Danford looked like a far more active player than he did last year. He wanted to make more plays with the puck. Danford felt more like a heads-up defender who could change the course of shifts instead of one focused solely on stifling the opposition.
The Leafs kept top prospect Easton Cowan off the ice through development camp, pointing to his heavy workload through two straight seasons filled with Memorial Cup runs and time at the world juniors. It's believed Cowan is not suffering from an injury.
It might have been disappointing for those who don't regularly watch Cowan. But those who have watched him know how much closer he is to making an NHL impact. Cowan spent this London Knights season focusing on playing within a team structure instead of making daring offensive plays. Cowan is probably a more competent and responsible player than he was last season. He might get a serious look at training camp, when it really matters.
'The next step for Easton is the pro habits we talk about,' Leafs assistant GM Hayley Wickenheiser said. 'In junior, you can get away with long shifts and lagging or not tracking back pucks. We talk a lot about the things that will translate to being an everyday, impact pro player: cleaning up those areas of the ice, being able to play on the inside and with pace day in and day out, and being physically strong so that when he comes in, he can handle the grind that it is.'
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Throughout the Leafs' 2025 playoffs, the organization invited multiple prospects to Toronto to watch games from the press box and interact with tweeners who themselves are looking to make the jump to the full-time NHL roster this season. It's a healthy attempt for the Leafs to expose prospects to what might be expected of them in the future, all while seeing first-hand the realities of making the jump to professional hockey.
Among the prospects invited were defenceman Noah Chadwick, a 2023 sixth-round pick, and forward Hudson Malinoski, a 2023 fifth-round pick. Both players interacted with Leafs staff, including Brad Treliving, during the playoffs.
Chadwick is high on the Leafs' list of defence prospects because of his 6-foot-4 frame and calmness with the puck in his own zone. His takeaways from watching Game 2 against the Panthers?
'Breaking it down and seeing the defensive masterclass guys like (Panthers defender Gustav Forsling) and (Leafs' Chris Tanev) put on. It's good gap and good stick work from Forsling, and trusting your feet. And with Tanev, it's the will: Blocking shots, getting in lanes, doing the hard things,' Chadwick said.
Chadwick stood out at development camp because of his ability to use his reach to stifle opposition defenders and how clean his first pass was. His tight turns down low require work, and his shot needs to get heavier. But the Leafs love his smarts and his willingness to improve. With a few Marlies defenders leaving the organization (Topi Niemela and Mikko Kokkonen), it sounds like the Marlies want to give Chadwick plenty of runway in his AHL rookie season in 2025-26.
'I want to have a challenge and push my limits,' Chadwick said.
As for Malinoski, he looks much faster and more eager to pounce around the goal than he did last season. He can turn from defence to offence remarkably quickly. I'd like to see that translate into a dominant season at Providence College.
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Some players arrive at development camp with something to prove. Even fewer, such as Martins Lavins, arrive knowing exactly who they are and what they're capable of — and it shows.
Lavins was a player I couldn't take my eyes off of.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound centre buzzed around the ice with noticeable competitiveness. The puck was a magnet to his stick. Lavins made effective, quick plays and was hell-bent on getting to the net. And there, his shot came off with the kind of force and precision few at development camp had.
Lavins is an undrafted 22-year-old Latvian who has two seasons at the University of New Hampshire and two runs with Latvia at the world championships under his belt. Lavins struggled during his transition to the USHL as a junior player, which is likely why he went undrafted. But Lavins is a late bloomer.
'I know the Toronto Maple Leafs have been watching me,' he said confidently.
Lavins also caught the eye of well-respected former Leafs U.S.-based scout Chris Roque, who made sure Lavins was invited to the 2024 development camp. Lavins earned another look this year, and he made the most of it.
There wasn't a check he didn't finish with effort, and there was no play he gave up on. He's a bright, well-spoken man who seems ready to handle what's next.
'I can be a reliable, two-way forward who will do anything necessary to win,' Lavins said.
I smell a professional contract in Lavins' future. Of note, Roque was one of the many former Leafs employees who have since joined Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh. Keep an eye on the Penguins to possibly latch onto Lavins as well.
'My goal is to play in the NHL, and I know it will happen. I know myself, and I know I'll improve. I have a lot to work on, but I know I'll get there,' Lavins said.
Something you don't see at every development camp: two players dropping the gloves.
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But that's what 2025 seventh-round pick and noted pugilist Matthew Hlacar and heavy ECHL defender Rhett Parsons (entering the second year of a two-year AHL contract) did during the first on-ice session on Thursday. A battle drill saw players doing just that: battling and making an impression on a staff who doesn't mind the rough stuff.
Rhett Parsons & Matthew Hlacar drop the gloves during Leafs development camp @BarDown pic.twitter.com/RRhUME6pSc
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) July 3, 2025
'Love the guy. Love every teammate here,' Parsons said of the tilt. 'But when you're in a battle drill, stuff like that happens. Total respect for him and no hard feeling off the ice.'
'Just two guys going hard and tempers flared,' Hlacar said. 'It happens. It's all good. I talked to him and we're fine.'
Sometimes it only takes one moment in a development camp to make an impression. If either of these two has designs on grinding up to a heavyweight role in the NHL down the line, their fight feels like the beginning of something.
It's worth noting, though: Hlacar's hands aren't just good for throwing bombs. He had better puck skills than you'd normally see for a seventh-round pick. Sneaky skill. We'll see.
The good and the bad in my first live viewing of 2025 second-round pick Tinus Luc Koblar: He's a menace with the puck close to goal and can turn defenders quickly with his skill and nose for the net. He's got a better skating stride than I would have thought for a 6-foot-4 forward. Koblar can sometimes make physical play look easy with his range. And full marks for the effort: Koblar was the last player on the ice after the first on-ice session.
'Sometimes you just wonder how he keeps the puck with him,' Koblar's Leksands teammate Victor Johansson said. 'He's strong in the corners, he tries to flip around players and get them off him. That's what I think people don't see that I see from him.'
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The bad? He could be in for a surprise once he starts playing against men in the SHL this season and possibly in the AHL or NHL down the road. While he's tall, Koblar needs to fill out with plenty of muscle for his body to truly have an impact. He's a gangly young player. Smart defenders might turn off him easily at the pro level. Heavier players might outmuscle him, too.
Koblar has plenty of time, though. I see an interesting player developing.
Nick Moldenhauer was my guy in 2023. I called him the best player at development camp in 2023, as evidenced by his consistently snarly play and smart, skilled play with the puck.
Yet after two seasons at the University of Michigan, the 2022 third-round pick's game has not continued to develop.
'Definitely some ups and downs,' Moldenhauer said of his season. 'But there was a lot to learn.'
At development camp, he seemed more reliable defensively. But offensively? He was too timid with the puck. His previous insistence on getting to the net and dictating the tempo of the play was missing. The swagger of a player who seemed to get under the skin of opponents seemed like a distant memory.
In short, Moldenhauer looked like a player who scored just 11 goals in 70 games at Michigan. And a player who, crucially, fired at just a 9 percent clip last season.
'I thought there was definitely a lot of positives, although it might not have looked like it,' Moldenhauer said. 'But I think my inner slot shots were great this year. I just wasn't converting.'
Development is not linear, and Moldenhauer's collegiate career is far from over. It feels like once he learns how to score in the NCAA, his confidence and his game will shoot back up.
'Every game feels like a playoff game,' the Mississauga-born Moldenhauer said of the NCAA compared to, say, the OHL. 'So it's not like you can take a game off and still get two points and stuff like that, like you could have done in junior hockey, so I think that's probably the biggest difference.'
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The chances are there. They're just not falling. And for a player with his puck skills, he'll need to produce to be signed to a pro deal.
'Sunday pizza.'
No, that's not the name of my forthcoming autobiography as the pizza connoisseur on The Athletic's NHL staff. It's the secret to 2024 fourth-round pick Victor Johansson shooting up from 146 pounds when he was drafted last year to 165 pounds this summer.
'I can eat a whole pizza in one sitting. What's that, like eight slices?' he said with a beaming grin.
Johansson admits that through most of his career, he was on medication to treat his ADHD. That led to a decreased appetite. Yet he made the decision himself to go off the medication in the hopes of becoming more alert on the ice.
'I felt I was ready to take the next step in my life. School was ending, and I wanted to try it,' Johansson said. 'It was tough at the start with my focus. I took a lot of unnecessary penalties. But I've since started to play really well.'
And going off the medication has led to him adding some much-needed size.
'I'll eat everything on the table now,' he said.
Johansson came out of his shell with the puck this season. He wanted to bring a more daring approach to his offensive zone play. Yet he can balance that approach, as I saw at development camp. While Johansson needs more pop in his stride, he also played like arguably the most intelligent defence prospect. He waited for the right play to develop and never panicked with the puck. It already feels like he's capable of earning trust from a pro hockey coaching staff.
After flirting with the SHL last season, his goal is to transition from Leksands' Under-20 team to the senior league, full-time.
We probably need to be talking about Alexander Plesovskikh more. That was my takeaway from day two of development camp, when the 2024 fifth-round pick stood out. The winger's tremendous skating and edge work made him look dynamic in the offensive zone. If he can continue to showcase those puck skills on the rush, he could develop into a dominant offensive player. His finishing needs work, sure. But there's sneaky size and composure in his game.
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It wouldn't surprise me if he has a big year in the Spartak Moscow organization this season.
Remember one of Mike Babcock's most on-point, but still unique, compliments delivered to former Leafs defenceman Ron Hainsey?
For those unfamiliar, the former Leafs head coach lauded the veteran defenceman ahead of the 2018 playoffs because Hainsey 'knows where to stand.'
It was a direct way of saying that Hainsey's intelligence led to effective on-ice positioning. And it came to mind because I saw a lot of the same from Luke Haymes, the former Dartmouth College standout who signed a two-year NHL contract in March. The forward lined up against the rush in better spots than his peers. He almost always made effective, but unglamorous, plays like a professional should. It was easy to see a future low-cost fourth-line Leaf this week.
'We think he is a smart, crafty player,' Wickenheiser said. 'Can he play with pace and the other aspects of the physicality while being able to be a defensively reliable forward as well?'
My sense was the Leafs had some interest in 6-foot-3 no-nonsense defenceman Owen Conrad heading into the draft. But the rugged Charlottetown Islanders blueliner went undrafted. The next day, he received a call from the Leafs. They wanted him at development camp, and their interest in him as a project remains.
Conrad oozes maturity and toughness. He's constantly bumping forwards off pucks. Conrad was more willing than any other defenceman to box forwards out near the goal and use his size to muscle forwards into uncompromising positions. Defensively, Conrad already has shades of a pro game. His skating needs work, but his puck movement is clean and safe. More opportunity higher up the lineup and on the PP could help his offence this season.
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'I want to prove people wrong for not drafting me in the first place. I want to prove I'm a good player, but I'm not going to be someone I'm not,' Conrad said.
I wonder if the Leafs see enough to re-engage with him at next year's draft.
For all the talk about 2025 third-round draft pick Tyler Hopkins being a defensive stalwart, his playmaking caught my eye. He's not afraid to send passes that are equal parts decisive and creative. Hopkins knows there's pressure on him to up his offensive output with the Kingston Frontenacs this season. Top line and first power-play unit minutes should see him push 50 assists next year.
After being drafted in the fourth round by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2023, 6-foot-3 forward Alex Pharand went unsigned. His playmaking skills turned him into a near-point-per-game player with the Sudbury Wolves this season, earning the 20-year-old a Leafs development camp invite. And I'd pencil him in for an AHL contract this offseason: Pharand was a feisty skater with a noticeable motor. He moves well for a big man and shows intelligence off the puck. Pharand constantly gets his stick in the right positions.
He has confidence in his game. See Exhibit A:
Hey @OHLHockey you might want to file this one as "Goal of the Year" 😉 pic.twitter.com/eDUhsR4nNe
— Sudbury Wolves (@Sudbury_Wolves) January 8, 2023
Count him as a possible project, with the long-term possibility of becoming a player who can produce regularly at the pro level.
The Leafs' skating consultants should put some time aside for 2025 fifth-round pick Harry Nansi and 2024 seventh-round selection Nathan Mayes. Both are obvious competitors who want to throw hits. But both players' skating stride, mechanics and quickness all require serious improvement.
(Top photo of Rhett Parsons and Matthew Hlacar fighting: R.J. Johnston / Toronto Star via Getty Images)