‘He’s Lost A Bit Of His Swagger’: Where The Maple Leafs Are With

Easton Cowan has lost his mojo a little bit.

The 20-year-old was a healthy scratch for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks, with William Nylander returning to the lineup for the first time since Jan. 15.

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It was the 12th time this season that Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has benched Cowan.

“(Cowan) just needs a little reset here,” Toronto’s coach said Saturday afternoon, ahead of Toronto’s matchup against Vancouver.

The rookie’s game has dipped since having five points in eight games, from Jan. 6 to 19. In his last five games since Jan. 21, Cowan has registered only one assist and is sporting a minus-four rating.

“To me, I think he’s lost a little bit of his swagger. That’s a big part of his game, and I’m not seeing that right now from his game,” Berube continued.

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“He may be worried about making mistakes and just little things like that that probably are affecting him and getting in the way of him being successful right now.”

It’s not just the points and plus-minus that you notice about Cowan, though.

The young forward hasn’t stood out much compared to the first half of the year, when he scored seven goals, with the last coming on Jan. 12 in a huge overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche.

At the time, he was showing glimpses of being the “big time” player, like he was with the OHL’s London Knights. But his game has tapered off, likely in part due to the difficult schedule and Toronto’s overall play.

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Entering Saturday’s game against the Canucks, the Maple Leafs had lost six consecutive games. (The last time Cowan was a healthy scratch was Dec. 27 against…