The kids are alright: How Easton Cowan and Gavin McKenna are boosting the Maple Leafs

Toronto invested heavily in veteran signings and trades to turn its playoff fortunes around but its youngest players are having impact.

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It’s always good for a family to raise two kids who can rough-house and keep each other company.

The Maple Leafs have such a pair that made noise in both training camp and their first two regular-season games.

Easton Cowan wasn’t going to let Gavin McKenna have all the fun and attention, set to make his second year in the NHL just as significant in the wake of McKenna’s highly publicized first steps as the No. 1 overall pick.

The 18-year-old McKenna has shown he can keep pace on a top line and think a man’s game, even if he has been blanked on the board so far, while Cowan has three points in two games and was Toronto’s best forward in Wednesday’s 2-1 grinding win over the New York Islanders.

‘Cowboy’ put in a second solid summer of training after his drive convinced the club not to keep him on the farm last year. He had 29 points in 66 NHL games, yet didn’t see going down to the Marlies as demotion after the Leafs fell from the playoff race. The 21-year-old was a huge contributor to the Calder Cup with 18 playoff points and has built on that to keep himself relevant after the Leafs ‘won’ McKenna in the draft lottery.

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As McKenna was given immediate status on left wing with two of the most productive Leafs in club history, John Tavares and William Nylander, Cowan’s checking chutzpah and knack for the net made him an ideal third-line piece with veterans Nick Paul and Colton Sissons. Like McKenna, he hangs onto pucks and finds people in a crowd — and does the spade work to earn that possession.

“Everyone has positive vibes, in how they’ve been welcoming to me as a young guy and Gavin,” Cowan said after a goal and assist Wednesday. “Having some young juice and veterans, it goes a long way.

“We got to know each other well in Ottawa a couple of years ago (on Team Canada at the world junior). Now we’re on the same team and it’s pretty cool. You guys see what he does on the ice, but off it, he’s just an unbelievable guy I love hanging out with.”

The two cross paths in a game as members of the second power-play unit, on which Cowan scored Wednesday’s winner. Puck battles were his summer training project.

“It happens a lot in the game, picking pucks off the wall,” Cowan said. “Little stuff like that goes a long way. I’m getting bigger and stronger as they say and that’s the goal.”

Goalie Anthony Stolarz, part of two Stanley Cups with the Florida Panthers, said he recognized the Calder Cup swagger in Cowan’s game from playing into late June. Think how many Leafs regulars who’ve cashed out after one or two rounds year after year would enjoy that kind of ride or Cowan’s two long springs in consecutive Memorial Cup appearances with the London Knights.

“I just like his trajectory, how mentally he really wants it,” coach Jim Hiller noted. “It’s easy to say that, but there’s all these things I see; him getting to the rink early, stretching, eating, going to the gym.

“It tells me he’s on the right path. It’s early, I have that in my mind, but I just don’t know where he’s going to go.”

McKenna did what Hiller hoped on Wednesday: Not let a night of nerves and turnovers from Tuesday against Montreal affect him.

“We talked about him taking a step and he almost had his first assist (when Nylander couldn’t finish a slick cross-ice feed),” Hiller said. “Three or four times on the power play I thought he was most dangerous.”

The Leafs had Thursday off and a practice scheduled for Friday, ahead of their third of four home games to open the schedule — the first Battle of Ontario versus Ottawa.

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