Ryan Leonard set a new career high in single-game time on ice with 18:32 played against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night.
Coming into the 4-2 win for the Washington Capitals, the 20-year-old rookie had not played more than 16 minutes in a game this season. Head coach Spencer Carbery even had Leonard on the ice defending a one-goal lead late in the third period after the Maple Leafs pulled their goaltender for an extra skater.
“I’m just trying to give him those opportunities,” Carbery said postgame. “Sometimes it’s touch and go, and night to night, I’m always watching his game to see if he’s having a night where he earns those opportunities to play late in games in defensive situations.
“I know if we need a goal, he’s going to be out there without a doubt. But in defensive situations where we have to protect a lead, I want to see strong wall play, I want to see him in the right position, good sticks, all the things that are required to not necessarily be a penalty kill guy but to be someone that can play the last five minutes early in your career defending a 3-2 lead and I thought he earned that opportunity.”
Leonard had a strong overall game, firing two shots on goal, drawing his team-leading 13th penalty, and most importantly, registering the primary assist on Jakob Chychrun’s game-winning goal. With just four minutes remaining in regulation, Leonard fired a pinpoint pass to Chychrun for a one-time blast that delivered the Capitals a lead over the Maple Leafs that they would not relinquish.
“That was just a heck of a play by Lenny to find me through the seam,” Chychrun said. “Yeah, I think high-end play by him.”
“Even at 2-2, I give him that shift,” Carbery said. “Makes a heck of a play, gets into the offensive zone. It’s not always going to be like that. As I’ve said the last few weeks, as a young player in this league, you have great nights, good stretches, and then you’ll sort of dip. But I thought he earned that opportunity tonight.”
The assist gave Leonard 12 points (5g, 7a) in 25 games this season, putting him on pace for a 40-point (17g, 23a) rookie campaign. Among all NHL rookies, Leonard ranks tied for fourth in scoring, behind Matthew Schaefer (18), Beckett Sennecke (18), and Ivan Demidov (18).
Over the past six games, Leonard has skated on the Capitals’ third line with Connor McMichael and Brandon Duhaime. The combination has produced great five-on-five results for the Caps, seeing 50.7 percent of shot attempts, 58 percent of expected goals, 51.8 percent of scoring chances, and 62.6 percent of high-danger chances.
“Lenny’s been great,” McMichael said Friday. “I mean, every time I’m on the ice with him, I just feel like we’re going to make something happen. And it’s a prime example on Chychy’s goal. He made a really heads-up play to find the seam there. Not only the plays that he’s making, but he’s moving his feet and using his body, his frame. He might not be the biggest guy, but he’s super strong. He’s able to fight guys off the puck, and he’s got real high-end skill as well.”
When Leonard is on the ice at five-on-five, he’s one of the most prolific shooters in the league. Among all 494 NHL players with at least 200 minutes of five-on-five ice time this season, Leonard ranks 13th in individual shot attempts per 60 minutes (19.9).
In that category, he is outpacing star names like Nathan MacKinnon (19.7), David Pastrnak (19.2), Auston Matthews (18.9), Jack Hughes (18.8), Jack Eichel (17.5), and Kyle Connor (15.8).
“I mean, just watching him, we’re obviously both right-wingers, so you kind of watch him a lot when he goes out in front of you,” alternate captain Tom Wilson said. “I think his game is at the best it’s ever been. He looks so good with the puck. He’s skating well. I think there’s flashes of potential of how good this kid’s going to be. And just a phenomenal person, too.
“He’s been a lot of fun to have around. It’s good for the group to have those young bucks coming in and keeping it light. So, you know, the sky’s the limit for him. I think as he gets more confidence and gets more comfortable, he’s a gamer. He’s going to keep going here.”
Among all of the team’s regular forwards, the Capitals only have a better five-on-five goals-for percentage with Wilson (71.4 percent), Aliaksei Protas (69.7 percent), and Alex Ovechkin (67.7 percent) on the ice than Leonard (61.9 percent).
The growth on the ice for the top prospect has been obvious, and Leonard has shown constant flashes of offensive brilliance that have fans dreaming of what he could achieve when he hits his prime. However, it’s more the intangibles and mindset of the young winger that have impressed his head coach the most.
“Everybody knows the skill set. Everybody knows the talent,” Carbery said. “What you don’t see is the behind-the-scenes. He cares deeply about winning and about getting better and being the absolute best. When you’re around people like that, like Leno, when he makes mistakes, which he inevitably is going to as a young player in this league, he’s so fired up and wants to fix that immediately. As a coach, I got so much time for that because you know he’s just going to continue to get better and better and better and better because he cares.
“Things that don’t go well, yeah, he understands that that’s going to happen, but it also bothers him. So he wants to correct it next time. He wants to correct that, correct that, correct that. So those players, 99 out of 100, get better, and they’re going to reach their full potential. Then you look at his skill set, and him reaching his full potential is a really good NHL player.”
Carbery has spoken about wanting to gradually increase Leonard’s role with this year’s Capitals, and he’s done exactly that so far. After averaging 12:52 of ice time in October, Leonard is up over a full minute, 13:56, in November. He’s also taken up a spot on the club’s top power-play unit.
Leonard’s next game will come against the New York Islanders, against whom he scored his first goal of this season back on October 11. In his last six games coming into the matchup, Leonard has recorded four points (2g, 2a).
