Boston Faculty star Ryan Leonard, one of many NHL’s high prospects, will signal with the Washington Capitals following the Eagles’ elimination from the NCAA match in a 3-1 loss to the College of Denver within the Manchester regional last on Sunday night time, in accordance with an individual near the participant.
The supply, who was not licensed to discuss the signing publicly, stated Leonard will make his NHL debut Tuesday night time again in Boston when the Capitals go to the Bruins at TD Backyard.
Leonard, a 6-foot, 200-pound winger, was the No. 8 decide within the 2023 NHL Draft. He completed third within the NCAA in targets and fourth in factors as a freshman at BC final season, registering 31 targets (probably the most ever by a Boston Faculty freshman) and 60 factors in 41 video games and incomes a Second Workforce All-American nod.
He elected to return to varsity this season as a substitute of going one-and-done as a result of he felt he had unfinished enterprise and needed one other crack at chasing a nationwide championship after the Eagles misplaced 2-0 within the last of final yr’s Frozen 4.
In his return to BC this season, Leonard was named an alternate captain and broke the 30-goal mark for a second time, registering 49 factors in 37 video games. He was named a high 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, awarded every season to the highest participant in males’s Division I faculty hockey. Via the regionals and into the Frozen 4, his 30 targets led the NCAA and his 49 factors ranked tenth.
He additionally gained back-to-back gold medals with Workforce USA on the 2024 and 2025 World Juniors, profitable match MVP and captaining the groups as a returnee in Ottawa simply three months in the past.
However a yr after ending one win away from a nationwide championship, he completed three wins shy, falling to the defending champion Denver Pioneers for a second straight yr.
Leonard will be a part of a Capitals staff that’s first within the Metropolitan Division, and the expectation is that he’ll contribute to the NHL membership instantly and burn the primary yr of his entry-level contract.
In The Athletic’s 2025 high 100 drafted NHL prospects rating, launched in February, Leonard ranked eighth, and fourth amongst forwards.
Scouting report
Leonard is a prospect whom everybody likes. It’s not possible to not. He’s a flexible, highly effective, high-RPM participant who makes issues occur when he’s on the ice and who pulls teammates into the battle together with his scrappy, aggressive, never-stop model. He’s not simply the vitality man or a battler, although. He’s obtained actually fast side-to-side palms, a tough NHL shot that rattles off his stick and fast crossover patterns that enable him to make use of these palms to get to locations the place he can look to shoot.
He’ll flash one-on-one ability, pulling pucks by means of his toes and round defenders. His focus is on attending to the inside, and he assaults there fearlessly with a sturdy stride. He’ll take a beating all through video games and hold sticking his nostril in each battle, persevering with to assault into contact. Add in power, energy, a robust construct, a capability to drive and shed contact when he will get bumped and a defensive conscience, and there’s greater than only a hands-shot-worker ability set, too.
He’s not probably the most cerebral participant, he is usually a little too net-focused at instances and his self-discipline and hot-headedness can get him into bother, however he has taken noticeable strides to change into just a little extra ingenious and rather less predictable from A to B (I’ve been increasingly impressed by his little hesitations and his widened imaginative and prescient in possession). His backhand has additionally change into a legit weapon, including one other layer to his taking pictures arsenal. There’s simply a lot that appears translatable about his recreation: The best way he will get photographs off arduous, even from off-balance and generally falling stances. The best way he battles and the fearlessness with which he drives the online. His general dexterity.
Leonard needs to be the sort of participant who will rating, add physicality to a line and slide up and down a top-nine in an NHL lineup whereas endearing himself to his coaches. Leonard’s a driver who has regarded like a No. 8 decide between BC and two robust showings on the World Juniors for the reason that draft. His play choice isn’t at all times nice, and he can take too many pointless penalties when his depth boils over, however he will also be a shift-to-shift drive.
(Picture: Bruce Bennett / Getty Photographs)
