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First, there was Phil Kessel.

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Then, Tyler Bozak. 

Next was Nazem Kadri. 

In the next several weeks, could Zach Hyman be next?

If you were once a Maple Leafs forward of prominence and moved on from the club in the past decade, either via trade or free agency, the transaction usually started a path to a Stanley Cup title. And in the case of Kessel, two Cups.

Kessel was traded on July 1, 2015, to the Pittsburgh Penguins and won the Cup with the Penguins the next two years. 

Bozak signed with the St. Louis Blues on July 1, 2018, and hoisted the Cup the following spring. 

Kadri was traded on July 1, 2019, to the Colorado Avalanche and his time in Denver culminated in 2022 with a Cup title. 

Perhaps history tells us that if the Leafs trade Mitch Marner, it shouldn’t be on July 1.

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Hyman signed with the Edmonton Oilers on July 28, 2021, and now is within four wins of what would be the first Cup won by an NHL team based in Canada since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens.

And if Hyman, Connor McDavid and the rest of the Oilers don’t beat the Florida Panthers, we’d put some money on the Oilers returning to the Cup final sometime in the near future.

For Kessel and Bozak, their time as Leafs had run the course and moving on was in the interest of both sides. Kadri and Hyman, especially, have had their best days in the National Hockey League since their respective tenures in Toronto ended.

Would the Leafs have been better off not trading Kadri and finding a way to re-sign Hyman? Of course.

Which brings us back to Marner. There’s plenty to be determined with the right winger, and if it comes to the point that he remains with Toronto for the 2024-25 season, that can’t be seen as a negative. He’s going to continue to be one of the best wingers in the game, no matter where he plays.

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LAMBERT ON TAP?

The latest name to pop up in speculation regarding new Leafs coach Craig Berube and his staff of assistants is Lane Lambert, who was fired by the New York Islanders in January. 

Lambert’s coaching resume is extensive, as the 59-year-old native of Swift Current, Sask., checked all the boxes before he was promoted to head coach of the Islanders in 2022.

After a playing career that included 283 games in the NHL with Detroit, the New York Rangers and Quebec, Lambert was an assistant and head coach in the Western Hockey League, American Hockey League and the NHL.

The expectation has been that Berube will retain Mike Van Ryn. Though it was assumed that Marc Savard was Toronto-bound when he mutually parted ways with the Calgary Flames two weeks ago, there has been nothing official from the Leafs. 

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Mike Yeo likely is bound for the Ottawa Senators and not the Leafs as originally thought when he and the Vancouver Canucks mutually parted ways last week.

The futures of Leafs assistants Guy Boucher and Dean Chynoweth have not been publicly divulged. Manny Malhotra recently departed the Leafs staff to become head coach of Abbotsford of the AHL. 

We’ll be curious to see if Boucher or Chynoweth — if they don’t return — eventually join Sheldon Keefe’s staff with the New Jersey Devils.

COWAN COMING

Once he gets past the disappointment of losing in the Memorial Cup final with the London Knights — and we understand it won’t completely evaporate — Easton Cowan can look forward to taking a significant run at cracking the Leafs roster in the fall.

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It doesn’t matter much what Treliving does with the Leafs’ group of forwards in the next several months. Cowan, in a superb season with the Knights, continuously demonstrated through the 2023-24 season why he should be expected to capitalize on the opportunity he will get in camp.

Whether Cowan gets more than a nine-game look with the Leafs will remain to be determined, but evidence supporting the notion that Cowan is Toronto’s top prospect continued to accumulate. 

In the Knights’ 4-3 loss to the Saginaw Spirit on Sunday, Cowan gave observers a nice glimpse of the kind of determination he undoubtedly will bring to the Leafs.

After London went down 3-0, Cowan factored on all three goals, scoring one and assisting on two as the Knights tied the game. More than once, Cowan took a hit to make a play.

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The 19-year-old plays with fire in his gut, and had London’s comeback been completed with a victory, we figure Cowan, who led the tournament with eight points, would have been the favourite to be named Memorial Cup MVP. That honour went to Spirit forward Owen Beck after he scored two goals in the final.

No matter. Cowan’s accomplishments this past season included winning the Red Tilson Trophy as the Ontario Hockey League’s MVP and the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as OHL playoffs MVP.

There are plenty of reasons for Leafs Nation to be stoked about Cowan’s future. We can expect that excitement to be well-placed.

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LOOSE LEAFS

Tobin Wright, the agent for Leafs winger Connor Dewar, told the Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby on the weekend that he has not had any contract talks with the Leafs regarding his client, a restricted free agent. Dewar continues to rehab from recent shoulder surgery … There is little history with the Leafs and the 23rd-overall pick in the NHL draft. That’s where they will select in the first round in the Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28, provided general manager Brad Treliving does not trade the pick. Players picked by the Leafs at No. 23 include winger Grant Marshall (1992), defenceman Dave Fortier (1971) and defenceman Jim Dorey (1964) — that’s it. 

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