Easton Cowan isn't going anywhere, and the Toronto Maple Leafs want that known heading into tonight's game in Calgary.
Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts that Toronto doesn't seem interested in moving the 21-year-old in its search for blue line help. The Leafs believe he's the real deal.
Friedman also pointed to a different chip. He assumes the Colorado 2027 first-round pick is one of the assets John Chayka would put on the table.
Smart call. Cowan has 12 points through 13 games, all on a $900,000 cap hit.
And the timing matters. He's been at his best lately, piling up 6 points over his last five games while going plus-5.
The details make him harder to part with. Two of his five goals are game-winners, and he's already chipped in a shorthanded marker.
That's a forward Jim Hiller can trust on the penalty kill or late in a tie game. Few teams find that kind of player at that price.
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Toronto's blue line is thinning out at the worst possible time
The need is real. Chris Tanev is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and isn't expected back until at least Oct. 31.
Marshall Rifai is out on the same timeline with a lower-body issue. That leaves a thin group behind Morgan Rielly, who has 9 assists and no goals.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson has 1 point all season. Darren Raddysh carries an $8,500,000 cap hit and still hasn't found the back of the net.
Toronto has allowed 41 goals so far. The offense keeps bailing the back end out, which works right up until it doesn't.
The crease isn't helping much either. Sergei Bobrovsky sits at a .895 save percentage across 8 appearances.
So why not package a kid for a top-four defenseman and call it a day?
Because moving Cowan now would be a bad idea, plain and simple. It's like selling the furnace in October to pay for new windows.
The Colorado pick is cleaner currency. The Avalanche are 4-5-1 over their last 10 after getting thumped 6-2 in Nashville on Sunday.
Toronto already handled Colorado once, winning 6-3 in Denver on Oct. 10. The rematch lands Nov. 10 at home, with that draft pick hanging over it.
Tonight's stop in Calgary keeps the road trip rolling toward Seattle and Vancouver. The Leafs carry a four-game winning streak into the Saddledome.
Chayka's stance on Cowan looks firm. But a first-round pick on its own rarely lands a real top-four defenseman.
Sooner or later, somebody on the other end of the phone is going to ask for the kid again.
Should the Maple Leafs refuse to trade Easton Cowan even if it costs them a top-four defenseman?
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Proposed three-team trade would land Nico Hischier in Montreal and Dylan Larkin in New Jersey
