Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery is seeing the growth he hoped for from Ryan Leonard in the forward’s second NHL season.
After notching 45 points (20g, 25a) in a 75-game rookie campaign last year, Leonard will enter Washington’s 10th game this season as the team’s leading scorer with eight points (4g, 4a). He is on pace to eclipse the 70-point mark for the first time in his young career, but Carbery is impressed with the 21-year-old winger’s early 2026-27 results for more than just his scoring uptick.
“I just think a maturity to his game,” Carbery said. “I think he’s taken it to another level. He’s more confident. He’s stronger on the puck, attacking. The second year, building off that first year, you always, as a coach, want to see a step from year one to year two. But also a lot of times there’s a sophomore slump, or that takes a little bit because you think it may come a little bit easy, but that has not been the case with Ryan.
“He’s come in phenomenal shape, looks great, and he’s dangerous on the ice, constantly a threat. And I think, too, that I’ve told you guys this a bunch, but him building his 200-foot game, we’ve seen improvements in that. I know we see the goals, we see the assists, we see the production, but I’ve seen improvements as well in his 200-foot game, which has been nice to see.”
Ryan Leonard’s highlight-reel goal against Devils
Despite leading the Capitals in scoring, Leonard is playing less time on ice per game this season (14:12) than last year (14:24). Among all NHL forwards with at least 100 minutes of total ice time, Leonard ranks 18th in points per 60 minutes (3.75), above star names like Nick Suzuki (3.67), Brady Tkachuk (3.59), Kyle Connor (3.42), Mitch Marner (3.32), Jason Robertson (3.26), and Jack Hughes (3.22).
NHL Leaders in Points per 60 Minutes (2026–27)
| Rank | Player | Team | GP | Points | P/60 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connor McDavid | EDM | 10 | 31 | 7.83 |
| 2 | Leon Draisaitl | EDM | 10 | 21 | 5.81 |
| 3 | Jack Eichel | VGK | 12 | 19 | 4.84 |
| 4 | Nathan MacKinnon | COL | 10 | 16 | 4.51 |
| 5 | David Pastrnak | BOS | 11 | 16 | 4.45 |
| 6 | Auston Matthews | TOR | 12 | 18 | 4.27 |
| 7 | Clayton Keller | UTA | 11 | 14 | 4.26 |
| 8 | Kirill Kaprizov | MIN | 11 | 17 | 4.25 |
| 9 | Matthew Tkachuk | FLA | 11 | 15 | 4.25 |
| 10 | Mark Stone | VGK | 12 | 15 | 4.15 |
| 11 | Macklin Celebrini | SJS | 9 | 14 | 4.09 |
| 12 | Nikita Kucherov | TBL | 9 | 13 | 4.06 |
| 13 | Sebastian Aho | CAR | 12 | 16 | 3.97 |
| 14 | William Nylander | TOR | 12 | 16 | 3.93 |
| 15 | Nick Schmaltz | UTA | 11 | 13 | 3.89 |
| 16 | Mason McTavish | STL | 10 | 10 | 3.82 |
| 17 | Vasily Podkolzin | EDM | 10 | 12 | 3.76 |
| 18 | Ryan Leonard | WSH | 9 | 8 | 3.75 |
| 19 | Mikko Rantanen | DAL | 10 | 13 | 3.75 |
| 20 | Tim Stutzle | OTT | 11 | 15 | 3.72 |
Per HockeyStats.io
The increase in production is also not taking away from the other majorly positive aspects of Leonard’s game. Among those top 20 forwards in points per 60 minutes, he also ranks first in penalties drawn per 60 minutes (2.81) and second in hits per 60 minutes (7.5).
Ryan Leonard’s highlight-reel goal against Kings
Leonard’s continued development could eventually lead to a larger role in Washington’s lineup. He’s recently been skating on the club’s fourth line and appears to be keeping that assignment from Carbery, based on line rushes at Friday’s practice.
While Carbery doesn’t deploy his fourth line like other coaches typically do, it still means Leonard plays more alongside names like Boone Jenner, Justin Sourdif, Anthony Beauvillier, and Jonny Brodzinski, rather than names like Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou, and Dylan Strome. However, the 2023 first-round pick is also seeing a large swath of power-play ice time per game (2:24), ranking fifth among Caps forwards.
When asked whether he wants to find ways to give Leonard more minutes overall, Carbery said the decision will depend on whether Leonard can keep building on his strong start and how the entire Capitals lineup performs.
“It’ll be based on how everyone plays and what it looks like,” Carbery said. “It won’t be, ‘Hmm, let’s really try to manufacture Ryan Leonard more minutes here and take them away from player X.’ It’ll be a product of his play and forcing us to play him more.”
Leonard is riding a two-game goal-scoring streak heading into Saturday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. He has had great success against the Sabres early in his career, recording three points (2g, 1a) in three games.
