Ryan Leonard’s first five weeks in the NHL have been a whirlwind.
The 20-year-old winger was still finishing up college class work when he signed his entry-level contract and was celebrating a playoff series victory with the Washington Capitals only a few weeks later. In between, he partied with Alex Ovechkin on his college campus, was congratulated by Wayne Gretzky on his first NHL goal in the Caps’ locker room, and was named one of three finalists for the 2025 Hobey Baker Award.
Leonard looks like he’ll be facing another NHL first after the Capitals dropped Game 1 of their second-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes: his first healthy scratch. Caps head coach Spencer Carbery was asked Thursday morning about the pressure Leonard faces so early in his pro career to produce goals and if that pressure has led to a tough start for the highly-hyped rookie.
“I would correct you right away and say, who expects him to score a goal?” Carbery said. “Because that wasn’t my expectations at all. If he does — that’s not to say that he can’t or you don’t want him to — but him coming to our team after his season ended and coming to the NHL level, I had no preconceived notions or fantasies that Ryan Leonard was going to come in and dominate the National Hockey League this time of year, especially in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.”
After scoring 30 goals in back-to-back NCAA seasons for the Boston College Eagles, Leonard has yet to beat an NHL goaltender with a shot. His lone goal came on an empty net against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 4, and he has 11 shots during the playoffs without denting the twine. He is the only one without a goal among the seven Capitals players with 10 or more shots in the first six games of the postseason.
Despite Leonard’s higher pedigree and immediate jump to the highest level, Carbery says the Capitals will have the same patience with the 2023 first-round pick as any other prospect.
“It’s not unlike any other player,” Carbery said. “It’s a process as a young player, coming to the AHL or, for that matter, the NHL, which is significantly more difficult. We and I will treat him the same way from the standpoint of the development process for young players inside of our organization, whether they start in Hershey or they start in Washington, is exactly that process. And we will continue to work with all of our guys, but specifically young guys.”
The Capitals have been far from bad with Leonard on the ice during the playoffs. During his 61:01 of five-on-five ice time, the Caps have seen 52.8 percent of shot attempts, 57.2 percent of expected goals, and 59 percent of scoring chances. The only thing lacking has been the finish, with the team scoring just twice during his shifts.
Scoring on NHL goalies is usually one of the last things a young player figures out in their development. The Capitals have seen firsthand examples of that through players like Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas, who until this season, had combined for just 40 NHL goals. This year alone, both in their age-24 season, they combined to score 56 goals.
Carbery worked with McMichael and Protas in Hershey and oversaw their breakout campaigns this season with the Capitals. The second-year bench boss praised the strength of the franchise’s development system, of which Leonard has barely scratched the surface.
“We’re at the forefront of that, of making sure that every day they’re getting the necessary attention and communication of what they need to do, and just continually improve,” Carbery said. “And they will, and that’s why we draft and why the players we bring in are such quality people, is because they want to put that work in on a daily basis. And then sooner or later, you see growth, you see growth, you see growth.”
While Leonard looks slated to come out of the lineup in favor of Taylor Raddysh for Game 2, Carbery has spoken positively about his play in the playoffs overall.
“I think he’s been solid,” Carbery said after Game 4 of the first round. “I’ve liked the things that he’s done for a 20-year-old kid coming into the [NHL]. He’s done a real nice job. He’s doing some good things. He’ll make the odd mistake, the quote-unquote dumb mistake, which is to be expected for someone of his age and his experience to be getting thrown into the Stanley Cup playoffs but I think he’s doing a lot of good things that are sort of a preview to what I see in his long NHL career that he’s going to be able to do from a zone-entry, a competitiveness, a physicality [standpoint].”
The Capitals are looking to even up their series against Carolina after falling 2-1 in overtime in Game 1. If Leonard does sit out, he’ll join Ethen Frank, Dylan McIlrath, Ethan Bear, and Mitch Gibson in the press box.
