April 1 vs. Boston Bruins at TD Garden
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN, Caps Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (47-17-9)
Boston Bruins (30-35-9)
The Caps head into the April portion of their schedule and embark upon a set of back-to-back road games when they face the Bruins in Boston on Tuesday. Tuesday’s tilt is the Caps’ last against an Atlantic Division opponent this season. Washington will play seven of its last eight games against its fellow Metropolitan Division denizens, beginning with Wednesday’s game against the Hurricanes in Raleigh.
And with the first stop being Boston, the Caps will be picking up a player along the way. On Monday afternoon, the team announced the signing of forward Ryan Leonard – its first-round choice (eighth overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft – to a three-year entry level contract with an AAV – not including bonuses – of $950,000. Leonard spent the last two seasons playing at Boston College.
Washington concluded the March portion of its schedule on Sunday with an uncharacteristic 8-5 home ice loss to the Buffalo Sabres, a loss that leaves the Caps saddled with a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) for just the second time this season. The Caps lost their first and last games of the month of March – both on home ice – but in between those setbacks, they rattled off six straight victories at home. Despite those bookend defeats – and a three-game slide to end the month – Washington posted a solid 9-4-1 record in March.
Sunday’s loss produced a handful of significant milestones for the Caps, beginning with Alex Ovechkin’s 890th career goal in the third period. Ovechkin, who also had a three-point game on Sunday, is now five goals shy of surpassing Wayne Gretzky (894) for the top spot on the NHL’s all-time goals ledger.
Aliaksei Protas scored a shorthanded goal in the first minute of the third period to reach the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his four NHL seasons. Protas is the first Capital with as many as three shorthanded goals in a season since Evgeny Kuznetsov had three in 2021-22. The last time a Capital scored more than three shorthanded goals in a season was Chris Clark, with four in 2006-07.
Tom Wilson picked up an assist on the Protas goal to reach the 60-point plateau for the first time in his career; he is the fifth Caps forward to reach that level this season. And with two goals, Jakob Chychrun established a single-season career best with 20 on the season. He becomes the first Washington defenseman to score 20 goals in a season since Mike Green netted 31 in 2008-09.
And although the team’s process was solid throughout much of the 180-plus minutes of hockey they’ve played in the last week, they know that with the playoffs less than three weeks away, they need to stop the slide.
“Obviously, we’ve lost three in a row, but I feel like [coach Spencer Carbery] talks a lot about process, and for the most part, the process has been pretty good,” says Caps center Dylan Strome. “Obviously, [Sunday] we got away from it a little bit. But there were still some great stretches in that game, and we fought back a couple of different times to keep that game close, and we’re never out of it. We’ve talked about that before; we’re down three goals in the third period, and we still feel like we have a chance to come back.
“So, we did some good things but we’ve got to be cleaning up the defensive side a little bit; we can’t be giving up that many chances, and it felt like those were freebies we were giving up [Sunday]. There were some good things, but we’ve got a tough road trip coming up, and it’s not going to get any easier the rest of the way.”
With the NCAA’s postseason tournament down to the Frozen Four after the weekend’s play, the Caps’ organization announced news relating to three of its recent draft selections on Monday.
The most notable of the three is signing Leonard to a three-year entry level contract. The Boston College sophomore’s season ended with a tournament loss to Denver on Sunday night, and the announcement was made early in the afternoon, as the Caps were about to go wheels up for Boston.
The 20-year-old Massachusetts native totaled 49 points (30 goals, 19 assists) in 37 games with the Eagles this season, leading the nation in goals and becoming the first player to post back-to-back 30-goal seasons at the NCAA level since Cam Atkinson achieved the feat in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
“I have [reached out to Leonard], just on their season coming to an end [Sunday] night,” said Carbery following Monday’s practice, and prior to the contract announcement. “I’m just proud of him, the season that he has had, number one, but also the way that he has conducted himself, the year that he has had with the World Junior [tournament] and another really strong season for him at BC.
“Anytime you don’t win the last game, it’s a tough feeling, especially having played college hockey. You put a lot into that, and those one-and-done scenarios are tough.”
Leonard’s contract is also a two-way deal; it will pay him a salary of $82,500 at the AHL level. In addition to his NHL salary of $950,000, Leonard will have the opportunity to earn bonuses as part of his pact. He will receive a signing bonus of $95,000 for each of the three seasons, and performance bonuses could bring the total value of his deal to more than $6.6 million.
In the first year of his deal – the current 2024-25 season – he can earn “B performance bonuses” totaling $275,000. Next season, Leonard will have a chance to earn $1 million in “A performance bonuses” and half a million dollars in “B performance bonuses.” For the final season of the deal – the 2026-27 campaign – Leonard can earn as much as $1 million in both categories of bonuses.
Leonard will join the team in Boston and he is expected to take part in Tuesday’s morning skate, and he could make his NHL debut as soon as Tuesday night.
Earlier in the day, Washington announced the signing of defenseman David Gucciardi to a two-year entry level pact. Gucciardi’s Michigan State team exited the tournament on Sunday as well. Gucciardi was the Caps’ seventh-round choice (213th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft, and he was chosen following his freshman season with the Spartans. In his senior season of 2024-25, Gucciardi finished with six goals, 10 assists and 16 points, setting career bests in each category.
Gucciardi’s deal commences next season, and it’s a two-year, two-way deal with an AAV of $855,000 at the NHL level and a salary of $82,500 at the AHL level. Gucciardi is expected to sign an ATO (amateur tryout agreement) with AHL Hershey for the remainder of this season.
Finally, the Caps also announced that defenseman Ryan Chesley is expected to sign an ATO with AHL Hershey later in the week. Chesley was the Caps’ second-round pick (37th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft, and he just concluded his junior season at University of Minnesota. The 21-year-old St. Paul native totaled eight goals, 12 assists and 20 points this season for the Golden Gophers, all single-season career bests. He is expected to sign a three-year entry level deal with Washington later this offseason.
Boston just returned from a rugged five-game road trip out west, a fruitless (0-5-0) journey in which it was outscored by an aggregate 23-7. The Bruins’ slide extends back three games further, Boston will be lugging an eight-game winless streak (0-7-1) into Tuesday’s game.
Since Feb. 5, the Bruins’ 3-13-3 record is easily the worst in the NHL.
