The Leafs went off the board with their first round pick in the draft last night. Here's our initial reactions and coverage to the selection of Easton Cowan from the London Knights to the team.

With the 28th pick in the 2023 Entry Draft, the Maple Leafs select Easton Cowan
The Toronto Maple Leafs kept their 28th overall pick after all, and used it to select Easton Cowan from the London Knights.
Brian SPPP Leafs

Cowan grew up in the London area, so it's no surprise who his favourite Leafs player is. In fact, Mitch Marner has already met him.

It will be a few years before we see what the Leafs have in Cowan, but we'll probably get some comments from the Leafs management about why they picked him soon. We might even get to hear from GM Brad Treliving who sat out most of last night locked in the janitors closet in the sub-basement of the arena so as to not show any conflict of interest with his old team the Flames. Now he's at the table and able to take phone calls.

Today are rounds two through seven, where almost two hundred more junior players will have their rights assigned to a team. In other words, it's going to be a long day. They will start back up at 11:00 a.m., but since the Leafs don't have any more picks until the fifth round it will be well after noon before we get any new names.

Here's a full summary of the selections made by every team in the first round.

Round one recap
All the first round picks from the 2023 NHL Entry Draft with highlights for each player.
Adam SelvigPPP Leafs

Enjoy your Thursday.

From The Branches