Washington Capitals 2023 first-round draft pick Ryan Leonard is one of the hottest players in college hockey. The 18-year-old winger is a top-six player for number two ranked Boston College Eagles and showing why he’s one of the top freshman skaters in the country.
Leonard is riding a seven-game point streak and had his first multi-goal performance this past week against Notre Dame. Leonard now has six goals in his last seven games to go along with three assists. His 47 shots on goal are second most for the Eagles behind only sophomore Cutter Gauthier (74).
Boston College has true National Championship aspirations this year and Leonard is one of the prime contributors on the team. Through 13 games, he sits fourth on the team in overall scoring with 14 points (7g, 7a) and his seven goals rank second.
Leonard added to those totals with two impressive tallies on Friday night in BC’s 6-1 win over the Fighting Irish. He first got on the board in the opening period with an absolute bomb that capped off an amazing play showcasing the chemistry he has developed with fellow freshmen Will Smith and Gabe Perreault. The three were longtime linemates in US National Development Team Program before all attending the same school and playing on the same line again.
Chemistry 👨🔬 pic.twitter.com/I4Trtb41fV
— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) November 24, 2023
Just a few shifts later, the trio would combine for another marker as Leonard played trigger man once again. Smith entered the Notre Dame zone, found a cutting Perreault, and Perreault made a drop pass to a streaking Leonard.
Another famously hard shot from the Capitals’ top pick and the game was 2-0. “You gotta be right in his hip pocket,” Peacock’s Steve Konroyd said after the goal. “You cannot give Ryan Leonard an inch. He will exploit it and he did there.”
The freshman line is not messing around 🤯 pic.twitter.com/K2uQTDcmdD
— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) November 24, 2023
Both of his goals in that Black Friday victory showcased exactly what Leonard has been doing right to keep him on this hot streak. He consistently gets to high-danger scoring areas of the rink and has an elite shot to finish off his chances.
One of the other most successful parts of his game that has translated to the next level from junior hockey is his desire to play a physical game and be an absolute pest. Leonard added to his team-leading seven penalties in the win and only one of them is a pure stick infraction.
Just Ryan Leonard (#ALLCAPS) doing Ryan Leonard things, dropping an opponent in the neutral zone with a heavy open-ice hit pic.twitter.com/NNSumbkmgF
— J.D. Burke (@JDylanBurke) October 21, 2023
In a recent interview with BC Interruption where he also revealed that he’s a fan of Full House, Lizzo, Ice Spice, and chicken parm, Leonard talked about what he personally thinks is going right for him right now.
“The puck’s going in now [laughs], so that’s a lot of fun,” Leonard said. “Obviously, you want to score as much as you can, but I think to sweep the first weekend in Hockey East our team was great. Will and Gabe have made my job easy playing with them for the past month or two here and then the team has just been great. Everyone’s doing their job and we’re all just in it to win it.”
Leonard was left without a goal through his first four college games but has clearly turned that around. The Capitals and Boston College will be hoping that this hot run of form continues throughout the rest of the Eagles’ schedule.
The Capitals will be eligible to sign Leonard to a contract after his freshman campaign is over although it is somewhat uncommon for college players to play just one season in the NCAA. The only true freshmen to make the big jump for the 2023-24 NHL season were Columbus Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli and Arizona Coyotes forward Logan Cooley.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
