Ryan Leonard, A 'Completely Different Player' & 'Free Bird,' Is Ready To Make Noise For The Capitals This Season
Washington Capitals rookie Ryan Leonard hit the ground running this summer and is ready to make an impact.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — Ryan Leonard’s still trying to grasp his first stint in the NHL as reality. There are times that the Washington Capitals rookie admits that he hasn’t fully processed it all, that he stops and wonders, Wait, did that really happen?
After all, it was a bit like a movie, with such a picture-perfect, storybook structure that it was hard to imagine anyone could really write it up that way.
One day, Leonard’s at Boston College, playing for a championship. The next, he’s with the Capitals, making his NHL debut in his hometown and, days later, scoring his first NHL goal in the same game that Alex Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky’s record in. Two days after that, he has an online quiz for school due, but he has to scramble, because Ovechkin and the team is celebrating him hitting 895 on the same night.
The next weeks that followed were truly “welcome to the NHL, kid” moments for Leonard, who was thrust into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, an unforgiving terrain, before he and the Capitals were eliminated in the second round.
Fast forward to now, and he’s getting a fresh start for what will be his true rookie year — and he couldn’t be more ready for the opportunity.
“I feel like a completely different player out there now,” Leonard said Wednesday after posing for trading cards as part of the NHLPA Rookie Showcase.
For the 20-year-old, the summer was not just a time to get a break from the ice, but to reflect, reset and prepare. It also allowed him to see what exactly held him back in his first games in the Show.
“Last year, I was maybe a little bit timid out there. Jumping in, you don’t really want to mess up,” Leonard pointed out. “Everyone tells you to play free, but sometimes, it’s a little bit harder when the stakes are that high.”
That said, Leonard hit the ground running with training this offseason. Instead of focusing on the typical areas of his game, he zeroed in on needed areas of improvement, including those smaller plays on the ice, like wall play and getting around bigger defenders.
“Just like little details,” Leonard said. “Everything’s so much quicker and faster.”
He also fine tuned his shot, from the speed to the accuracy, with him realizing that it’s going to take a whole lot more to score at the NHL level than it did back at Boston College.
“I’m taking big steps,” he noted.
Then, there’s the skating, and the size and speed. Leonard’s added a few pounds to his 6-foot frame, and from watching him in the informal skates, it’s easy to tell that he’s stronger, more explosive and sure in his strides.
“(I want to) just play with a lot more confidence,” Leonard said. “I want to contribute a lot more.”
Going into camp, Leonard knows that nothing will be handed to him, and his priority and first matter of business is making the team and showing that he’s earned a full-time spot in the lineup. From there, he’ll look to change the game in any way he can.
“It was different timing last year, but (I want to) start off on a good note, having a good preseason, training camp, all that,” Leonard said. “Hopefully make the team to start, and just keep getting better and better and more comfortable every single game.”