The Washington Capitals drafted Ryan Leonard with the eighth overall selection in the 2023 NHL Draft out of the US National Development Team Program. Leonard committed to play at Boston College in the NCAA back in 2021 and kicked off his freshman year with the school this season.
Through 32 college hockey games, Leonard has proven that the Capitals have quite the prospect on their hands. Leonard has scored 25 goals and tallied 47 total points on an Eagles team that is the number-one-ranked team in the nation.
Leonard has reached a whole new level with his recent streak of brilliance. The 19-year-old winger has had more multi-goal games in the past three weeks than he has had games with zero goals. With two goals against the New Hampshire Wildcats on Friday night, Leonard extended his point streak to 16 games and now has nine goals in his last five games.
“It’s exciting, for him and for everybody in our organization,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said Saturday. “He’s playing well. He’s an interesting player. He provides a lot of things. The skill, the grit, the compete, the skating. We’re excited for his season. Looking forward to having him in the organization at some point.”
There are only two players in the entirety of the NCAA with more goals than Leonard this season. One is his sophomore teammate, Cutter Gauthier (31), and the other is the consensus number-one overall pick in the 2024 draft, Macklin Celebrini (26).
MacLellan was asked if he had any idea when the Capitals could add Leonard to their depth chart. At the culmination of this year, Leonard could return to Boston College for his sophomore season or sign his entry-level contract with the Capitals and forgo the rest of his college career.
“I don’t think — we don’t want to interrupt his season,” MacLellan said. “We have player development guys going in all the time, meeting with him. I don’t think it’s, ‘We want you to turn pro.’ We’ll assess with his agent. We’ll talk to him at the end of the year, talk about the year and where he’s at, and make a decision based on that.
“It’ll be a lot in his hands, in my opinion, on what he wants to do. Does he want to go back for another year or does he want to turn pro? We’ll accommodate his wishes.”
If you ask MacLellan, Leonard was already ready to throw on a Capitals jersey earlier this year. “At rookie camp, he looked like he could play, in my mind,” he said.
Before Leonard shares what exactly he wants to do, he has a slew of important games coming up. After Boston College wraps up their regular season slate with games against New Hampshire and Merrimack, they’ll head into Hockey East tournament play. Then, the biggest prize, the 2024 National Championship lies at the end of this year’s NCAA tournament.
Boston College will be favorites to take home the championship title after being ranked as the best team in the country for the majority of the season. Leonard will play a big role in that run and then, in theory, could immediately make his NHL debut in mid-April and then be involved in a Calder Cup chase for the Hershey Bears.
