Maple Leafs' Easton Cowan secures Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as OHL playoffs MVP 

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan was awarded the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award for outstanding performance during the OHL playoffs. The award is given to the playoff MVP.

On Wednesday, Easton Cowan and the London Knights won the OHL championship after completing a series sweep over the Oshawa Generals in the final. It marked the fifth title for the Knights, having previously won in 2005, 2012, 2013 and 2016.

Cowan was one of the key members in helping the Knights lift the championship. He accumulated a goal and three assists for the Knights in the final and finished the playoff campaign with 34 points accumulated through 10 goals and 24 assists in 18 games.

Moreover, Cowan became the first OHL player to become both the playoff and regular season MVP since 2016. The last players to win both the regular season and playoff MVP were Mitch Marner and Connor McDavid.

Cowan and the Knights will be heading to the 2024 Memorial Cup, which is set to begin on Thursday, May 23 in Saginaw, Michigan. They will be up against the host team, the Saginaw Spirits, as well as the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs.

Additionally, the winner of the WHL final between the Moose Jaw Warriors and the Portland Winterhawks will also be competing in the tournament. It will be the 104th edition of the Memorial Cup.

How Easton Cowan and Knights beat Generals

The London Knights secured their fifth OHL title after beating the Oshawa Generals 7-1 in the final on Wednesday.

It was a dominant performance from the Knights in the final. They outshot the Generals 30-26 in the win and were 2-for-4 on the powerplay. Easton Cowan picked up four points, while Ruslan Gazizov, Sam Dickinson and Denver Barkey all accumulated three points in the matchup.

Michael Simpson was solid between the pipes and made 25 saves for the Knights. Meanwhile, Calum Ritchie was the only scorer for the Generals, while Jacob Oster made 23 saves between the pipes.

In the post-game media availability, Knights coach Dale Hunter said (via chl.ca):

“They’re a bunch of good kids that just wanted to win all year and coming into the playoffs here we played some great teams,” Hunter said. “All four rounds. Oshawa was hard to play against, they played well but our kids stepped it up another level.”

Easton Cowan was drafted No. 28 by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2023 NHL draft. He has been with the Knights in the OHL for the past three seasons.