The Toronto Maple Leafs may be willing to move a premium piece to help their blue line, but Easton Cowan does not sound like he’s going anywhere.
That was the message from Elliotte Friedman on the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, where he said Toronto views Cowan as someone who has taken a major step forward in a short amount of time and is now being treated like a real part of the team’s future. With the Leafs already having included Matthew Knies in the deal for Kirill Marchenko, the question becomes what else they’d be willing to put on the table. For now, Cowan seems to be off limits, and Toronto may instead be looking at other prospects or the 2027 first-round pick it received from Colorado.
There is also uncertainty around William Nylander heading into Toronto’s game against the San Jose Sharks. Nylander missed the morning skate because of an illness, and head coach Jim Hiller said he would be a game-time decision. Auston Matthews sounded upbeat when asked about him, smiling and saying, “I think he’s going to be great.”
The morning skate gave a few clues about how Toronto was lining things up if Nylander can’t go. Bo Groulx skated with Matthews and Jack Roslovic, while Cowan was with Nick Paul and Kirill Marchenko.
Gavin McKenna, Colton Sissons and Vinni Lettieri made up another line, and Brandon Duhaime, Teddy Blueger and Zack MacEwen were the final forward group. Sergei Bobrovsky was also in line to start in goal again for the Maple Leafs.
Elsewhere, the Detroit Red Wings may be feeling a growing sense of urgency around Dylan Larkin. Friedman suggested the club could be reevaluating how long it wants to let the situation go, and he specifically raised the concern of how long Detroit is willing to risk Larkin getting hurt. He also pointed to the recent Connor Hellebuyck situation as something that may have added to the pressure, even if the connection between the two situations isn’t entirely clear.
And in the background of all this, the Montreal Canadiens may have taken a look at another familiar name while working on their pursuit of Kirill Marchenko. Friedman reported that some of his sources believed Rickard Rakell was among the players Montreal explored as part of a possible deal involving Columbus. It’s still unclear whether the Canadiens made a formal offer or how close Rakell came to being moved, but his name being in the mix suggests they were considering multiple ways to structure a deal that might get Columbus’s attention.
That also fits with what Friedman said Saturday on Headlines: the Penguins are open to moving older veterans in exchange for younger assets. Rakell would be near the top of that list for GM Kyle Dubas if Pittsburgh decides to shop more widely.
In Other News...
Dylan Larkin To Montreal May Hinge On More Than Hockey
Speculation around Dylan Larkin and the Canadiens has been simmering for a while, but the conversation around a possible move to Montreal clearly stretches beyond the usual hockey fit. The Detroit captain is under contract through 2031 and has opened this season with three points in six games, so any talk of him changing teams is already difficult enough to sort through on the ice alone.
What makes the Montreal angle more complicated is the personal side, which has a way of mattering in major trade chatter even when no one says it out loud. Larkin married Kenzy Wolfe in August 2023, and his comfort level off the ice is part of the backdrop here, along with the reality that there are still no confirmed details linking him to a move. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens May Have Found A Late-Round Surprise In Laval
A seventh-round pick usually arrives with modest expectations, but Luke Mittelstadt is forcing the Canadiens to take a longer look. The 2023 selection, once viewed more as a steady defensive piece after a quiet NCAA scoring profile, has found an early groove in Laval and has become one of the biggest reasons the Rocket have opened the season so well.
Mittelstadts usage tells part of the story, with the 24-year-old handling a larger offensive load than anyone would have predicted when he was drafted. He has settled onto Lavals top defensive pairing and power play, and the production has followed, enough to spark real conversation about whether the Canadiens may have found more than organizational depth in a player who was supposed to be a long shot. [Read more 🡒]
Kent Hughes May Still Have A Clever Canadiens Forward Move Left
The Canadiens were at least doing homework on Rickard Rakell as part of a bigger October trade concept, and that alone says a lot about how Kent Hughes is still scanning for ways to sharpen Montreals forward mix. Elliotte Friedman reported the club explored Rakell in the framework of a move that was meant to help land Kirill Marchenko for Columbus, a reminder that the Canadiens are not just watching the market but trying to shape it.
Rakell still carries a $5 million cap hit, and his slow start has only added to the intrigue around what kind of return Pittsburgh might eventually consider. For Montreal, the appeal is obvious enough: if Hughes decides the fit still makes sense, Rakell could give the second line a different look even with the original deal structure gone, leaving open the possibility of a separate swing later on. [Read more 🡒]