3 Pleasant Surprises at Maple Leafs Camp

The Toronto Maple Leafs get set for their final dress rehearsal for the regular season with a home exhibition game against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. The lineup looks very much like the one that head coach Craig Berube is expected to roll out for Opening Night on October 8 against the Montreal Canadiens.

As a fairly uneventful training camp comes to a close, let’s have a look at three pleasant surprises that we can take out of the Leafs’ preseason:

1. Easton Cowan seemingly has a pre-ordained spot in the Leafs opening night lineup

Easton Cowan was a force in junior hockey, but hasn’t spent a game in the pros to this point. That will undoubtedly change for the Leafs’ top prospect on October 8. Coming into camp, no one really knew exactly what to make of Cowan’s chances of making the club. In fact, many observers felt the 20-year-old might not be in Berube’s plans.

But Cowan quickly found a role on the fourth line, alongside Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz. At this point, it would be a huge upset if he didn’t break camp with the team.

One big question at this point is whether that’s a function of how far veterans like Calle Jarnkrok and David Kampf have fallen, or whether Cowan has proven he is NHL-ready.

Jonas Siegel noted on The Leaf Report that it is quite likely the latter.

“In board battles, he’s been able to hold his own physically, he’s disrupted plays, he’s kind of got a peskiness to him, and Berube’s talked about how he hounds pucks… He feels like someone who could play anywhere. You could put him on any of the four lines.”

And that leads us to the other big consideration with Cowan: Is a fourth-line role the right spot for the first-rounder to get his professional indoctrination? He certainly does play with a high-energy, tenacious style that’s needed on a fourth line. But is the 10 minutes or so of ice time that he’d get in that spot enough for him to develop properly at this stage of his career?

Any way you look at it, however, Cowan has been one of the big pleasant surprises of camp.

2. A Drama-Free camp for Leafs!

After all the turbulence and turmoil of recent preseasons with the uncertainty of the Mitch Marner situation, or with William Nylander’s contract drama before that, it’s been a nice change of pace for Leafs camp to be running mostly under the radar.

Longtime Maple Leafs analyst and former GM Gord Stellick told The Fan Morning Show crew Thursday morning that it’s a pleasure to see all the contract hullabaloo happening elsewhere around the league, instead of in Toronto.

I like the fact that we don’t have that noise starting the season. ‘Oh my goodness, what are they gonna pay him?’ And it drags on and on. So I find that refreshing right now.

3. James Reimer bringing the good vibes

It’s a blast from the past to see James Reimer in camp on a PTO. The veteran goaltender spent six years with the Leafs, over a decade ago. And though many fans might remember him as the man between the pipes during one of the most embarrassing losses in team history (Game 7 against the Boston Bruins, 2013), Reimer did post a .914 save percentage in his 188 regular-season games with Toronto. And even a .923 Sv% in that fateful seven-game series against the Bruins.

The 37-year-old is absolutely loving his trip down memory lane, being back in the Leafs organization. He can’t wipe the smile off his face.

James Reimer has only good memories about his first six seasons in the 6 💙 pic.twitter.com/3WnqiFDTZn

— BarDown (@BarDown) September 27, 2025

“It’s the greatest game on earth and the greatest city to play the game in,” Reimer said about Toronto. “I’ve got so many good memories. I’m sure there were some bad ones in there, but I don’t even remember them. I’m sure nobody else does either,” he laughed. “Just trying to soak it in and enjoy the moment.”

Yes, unless you’re Nick Robertson or Kampf or Jarnkrok, it’s all good vibes right now at Leafs camp. And that’s kind of a nice way to head into a season, for a change.

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