Easton Cowan NHL debut on horizon after major lineup change.

The Toronto Maple Leafs appear to have made a major lineup change.

On Saturday night, the Maple Leafs suffered their first loss of the season against Atlantic Division rivals the Detroit Red Wings, coughing up an early lead on their way to a 6-3 defeat at the hands of a team that most experts don't expect will make the playoffs this season.

It was an ugly loss for the Leafs and it would now appear that it was an ugly loss that will have some consequences for the players on the roster.

On Sunday, head coach Craig Berube fielded a new look lineup during practice ahead of Monday's game against those very same Red Wings, a new look lineup that featured National Hockey League rookie Easton Cowan at the very top end.

Here's a look at how the Leafs looked on Sunday:

Knies-Matthews-Cowan

Maccelli-Tavares-Nylander

Robertson-Domi-McMann

Joshua-Roy-Jarnkrok

McCabe-Tanev

Rielly-Carlo

Benoit-Ekman-Larsson

This would of course be huge news for Cowan who now appears not only poised to make his NHL debut, but appears poised to make his NHL debut on the Maple Leafs top line alongside both Matthew Kies and Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews. That is quite a way to make an NHL debut, one that appears destined to happen during Monday's afternoon game.

Cowan is coming off of a great training camp and prior to that he had a great season with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. During the 2024-25 OHL season, Cowan recorded 29 goals and 40 assists for a total of 69 points in just 46 games.

Important reminder to fans hoping to catch this one live, the game has been moved up to 2pm EST which is 2 hours earlier than it had been originally scheduled.