The Washington Capitals organization almost had a second Leonard.
Per Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis, the Hershey Bears tried to sign John Leonard, the 26-year-old older brother of Capitals’ 2023 first-round pick Ryan Leonard, to a “lucrative” AHL contract.
Multiple sources both on the Hershey side and those in tune with Charlotte have indicated that the Bears are hard in pursuit of pending AHL UFA forward John Leonard… though the Capitals aren’t the only potential suitor for him. Sounds like there’s at least one other offer being considered from what I’ve heard.
The other offer appears to be the one Leonard ultimately chose to sign, a one-year, $775,000 NHL deal with the Detroit Red Wings.
Leonard will make $775k in both the NHL and AHL during the 2025-26 season. He’ll require waivers to be sent down to the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Hershey’s interest in Leonard comes as much of their veteran core could be moving on during free agency. Mike Sgarbossa (signed with HC Lugano) and Ethan Bear (signed with NY Islanders) have moved on, while Hunter Shepard, Pierrick Dube, Alex Limoges, Luke Philp, Mike Vecchione, and Chase Priskie (traded to Minnesota) are all free agents.
Leonard had a dominant season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers, recording 61 points (36g, 25a) in 72 games. After signing an AHL deal last summer, the elder Leonard scored 36 goals (tied for the second most in the league), hitting the back of the net 10 times on the power play and five times shorthanded (tied for the league lead).
In the playoffs, Leonard scored eight goals in 16 games, including four different shorties, to help lead the Checkers to the Calder Cup Finals. Leonard was especially pivotal in the Atlantic Division Finals, where he helped the Checkers sweep the Hershey Bears, scoring twice in the three-game series and notching the game-winning goal in Game 1.
Ryan Leonard attended Game 3 of the Bears-Checkers series at Giant Center, rooting on his brother while sitting with Capitals teammates Dylan McIlrath and Ethen Frank.
If the Bears would have been able to ink Leonard, the Capitals organization would have had their third set of brothers that already includes Dylan Strome and Matt Strome and Aliaksei Protas and Ilya Protas.
