The Toronto Maple Leafs are working the phones and sharpening their strategy ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday and the opening of free agency on Tuesday. While all eyes remain on the Mitch Marner situation, other key decisions are taking shape behind the scenes. Some of these could forge the team’s long-term identity far more than a headline trade.
Related: Making Sense of Maple Leafs and Brandon Carlo Trade Rumours
In this edition of Maple Leafs News & Rumours, I focus on three evolving stories: the Easton Cowan–Jason Robertson speculation, the case for keeping Steven Lorentz, and the contract talks heating up around John Tavares and Matthew Knies.
Item One: Trading Easton Cowan for Jason Robertson? The Maple Leafs Must Resist the Temptation
A recent report suggests a tantalizing possibility: if Marner is willing to sign in Dallas, the Stars might be forced to move Jason Robertson. That idea has sparked speculation that the Maple Leafs could pursue Robertson as a one-for-one replacement, albeit through a more complex, multi-asset deal. Names like Easton Cowan and Brandon Carlo have surfaced. But here’s the problem: just because the deal could work on paper doesn’t mean it will work in reality.
Let’s start with Cowan. The young forward isn’t just another promising prospect—he’s a potential culture-changer. At 19, Cowan plays a tenacious, energetic brand of hockey that Toronto has been starving for. He embodies the very kind of heart-and-hustle player the organization has sought for years. Trading him before he plays a single NHL game is not just premature—it’s wasteful. The short-sighted move sacrifices tomorrow for today’s illusion of progress. Cowan has earned the chance to prove what he can become.
Related: Maple Leafs News & Rumours: Marner’s Monster Offers, Tavares Talks & Re-Signing Holmberg
And Brandon Carlo? He’s a right-shot, stay-at-home defenseman in his prime, precisely the type Toronto desperately needs. In what universe does it make sense to deal him away as part of a package that helps solve Dallas’s cap crunch while gutting the team of cost-effective, long-term contributors? Robertson is a scoring forward, there’s no question. But if this deal hinges on giving away the team’s future and plugging holes elsewhere to make the math work, the Maple Leafs should walk away.
Item Two: Why Bringing Back Steven…
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