ARLINGTON, VA — Ryan Leonard has continued his adventures into adulthood this fall while living with Pierre-Luc Dubois. After moving into the Dubois household this spring, Leonard returned for the start of the 2025-26 season, getting both a place to stay and some sage advice from an NHL veteran.
While plenty of those pointers are about how to improve on the ice, Dubois has also been pushing Leonard to develop life skills as he prepares to live on his own, to mixed results. Dubois told reporters on the first day of training camp that Leonard had been “marinating meat, like putting salt on meat,” and that “he says it’s cooking.”
A week into camp, Leonard gave an update on his culinary journey.
“(Dubois) likes to cook, but he’s trying to get me out of there, so he’s trying to teach me to learn to cook,” he said. “Last night he brought some food home from here for him and (his wife) Maddie, and I actually had to go to the grocery store last night and cook for myself. So that was a fun scene.
“(I made) ground turkey, peppers, and rice,” he added. “Simple, threw some garlic on it and salt, pepper, and put it on a plate and ate it.”
When asked for his side of the story, however, Dubois revealed a key detail Leonard had left out.
“It was all pre-made, and you just have to put it together,” he said of Leonard’s meal. “But yeah, he’ll get there one day.”
Dubois, himself, is a relative newcomer to DC. After a tumultuous few years that saw him play for three teams in four seasons before Washington acquired him in June 2024, Dubois wasted no time integrating into the Capitals’ locker room, becoming both one of the team’s best players and a respected figure in the organization.
In his own rookie year, Dubois lived with then-Blue Jackets defenseman David Savard, an experience he was still grateful for eight years later. So when he learned that Leonard would need a place to stay after joining the Capitals last spring, he didn’t hesitate to welcome him into his home.
“It would be an understatement to say (living with Savard) helped,” Dubois said, “to come back from road trips and not have to worry about what you have in the fridge, and what you’re going to eat, and what you’re going to do in the next morning, and on a day off (to) not spend the whole day by yourself in a hotel room or an apartment. Mentally, I think it was the biggest thing for me when I lived with him.
“I always knew it was something that I’d like to do one day, obviously you can’t force it, and (Leonard) came up last year. Everybody told me that he’s a great kid, really nice, super respectful, so it was an easy decision to make.”
The relationship has proven a boon for both players — Leonard has the benefits of living with a veteran, while Dubois says Leonard helps keep him young.
“My wife tells me that when he leaves, my age level goes up,” he said. “But it’s fun having him around.”
That mentorship role, even when it means forcing a rookie to learn how to cook, can play a valuable part in a young player’s development. Head coach Spencer Carbery praised Dubois for stepping up as a veteran, guiding him in a way the coaching staff couldn’t.
“I’m going to help Leno and we’re going to do everything we can to bring him along in his progress and his development, but players have such a big impact,” Carbery said. “Leaders have such a big impact on the players… And to the point of Dubie — he’s such an intelligent player. So there’s a lot of valuable information there, and not just the fluff of like, ‘Be ready for this on the travel, be ready for this on the road. Hey, the meal here sucks or whatever.’ There’s real Xs and Os, valuable stuff that Dubie has to offer.”
This fall, the pair have been spending even more time together. They rarely shared the ice last season, but Leonard has spent much of training camp practicing on Dubois’ wing, with Carbery testing what could become the Capitals’ second line.
Playing on the same line has given Dubois more opportunities to help Leonard, and those conversations have continued at home, even if Dubois acknowledged that they often got derailed.
“A lot of times (they’re) just stupidity, but some substance to it,” Dubois said, grinning. “We’ve talked a little bit about camp, and how camp can help, and leading up to the season, and preseason games and all that. But he’s a smart kid on and off the ice…it’s not like I have to coach him or help him that much. He’s really smart.”
While Dubois downplayed the extent of his impact, Leonard highlighted how much Dubois has been able to teach him both on and off the ice.
“Obviously his talent speaks for himself,” he said. “You guys have heard it a bunch from anywhere within this organization, he’s so smart. So whether we’re just talking out there on the ice, or after at the house while we’re eating dinner, or just relaxing on the couch, he’s really helped me a lot. I owe a lot of future credit to him.”
Leonard’s time at the Dubois house will soon come to a close. Dubois’ wife Maddie is expecting the couple’s first child, and Leonard has found a place to live of his own: Dubois quipped that “two kids in the house and three dogs would be a lot.”
But even if they only lived together a few months, Leonard’s time staying with Dubois has been a major gift to him as he adjusts to his new career in the NHL.
“It doesn’t go unnoticed,” Leonard said. “I’m so lucky and I’m fortunate enough to be able to live with him the past couple months I’ve been in the house in total time, but him and Maddie — and the dogs — have been great and I really can’t thank them enough.”
