Here's The Thing About The Trouba Hit On Leonard — Albeit Ruled Clean — With The Capitals Rookie Sidelined For 'Extended' Period

Ryan Leonard will be out for an extended period of time as he deals with the after effects of a heavy hit from Jacob Trouba.

The Washington Capitals got the news they didn’t want to hear regarding rookie Ryan Leonard, who is now out for “an extended period of time” after being hurt on a heavy hit from Jacob Trouba in Friday’s shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

Trouba is not facing supplemental discipline for the check, which he delivered to Leonard as the 20-year-old wheeled behind the net.

From the league and officials’ standpoint, it was a clean hit, with the shoulder being the intended target. Trouba saw the opportunity for a big check, and went for it.

The other argument, one that’s repeated on social media, is “Well, that’s hockey,” and the cliché but vital saying of, “Keep your head on a swivel.”

That, while it makes the hit clean by the book, doesn’t mean it was justified — and here’s why.

Before we start, this isn’t saying that a defenseman shouldn’t look to make a check when he can. He should. A physical blueliner is on the ice for that reason.

Ultimately, though, there’s cause and effect, and being aware of when players are in a vulnerable spot.

That was the case with Leonard. The rookie was wheeling behind the net, already with a defender on his trail. His look back to play the puck wasn’t one of “admiring a pass,” it was him trying to be aware of his surroundings and who was coming.

With his head turned and his mind occupied, he, while certainly aware of Trouba on the ice (you have to be aware of a player like that on the ice), wasn’t able to see Trouba getting ready for the hit (which he had lined up for quite a bit), and already, is in a vulnerable position behind the net near the boards.

Leonard turns at the last second, the puck already off his tape, when Trouba’s shoulder catches him high. The follow through impacts the head, and that’s what left Leonard on the ice, bleeding from the face and now dealing with a myriad of after-effects from the injury.

“He knows exactly what he was doing,” Tom Wilson, who has not been suspended for a check to the head in over four years, said of Trouba’s hit. “Kid’s in a vulnerable spot.”

Trouba, a veteran of the league with a reputation for heavy hits, is aware of the situation on the ice, just as those advocating for the hit say Leonard should have been. There’s a standard there for all players, and not just the one receiving the hit, but the one giving it.

The crux of the matter, though, is that there was head contact — incidental or not — that now has a rookie sitting out for the foreseeable future.

It’s what coach Spencer Carbery called out as being the main issue with the play, and one he believes the league needs to take action to eliminate completely.

“To me, there’s just something we have to do as a league, and I don’t know where this goes, if anything, is just the head contact is the key. That’s the key to all of this, is the head contact,” Carbery said. “Whether he’s low and he’s in a very, very vulnerable spot... it looks old school to me, like hunting a player that’s in a vulnerable spot.”

It’s a fine line to tow, but there should be a standard to try to get rid of checking that results in head contact and severe injury.

At the end of the day, what’s done is done, and now the main question is whether or not Trouba will answer the bell come Jan. 5, when the Capitals next see the Ducks at home.

The defender refused to fight Wilson on Sunday, part of the unwritten code of hockey, and certainly, D.C. will be looking for a response.

That response, though, is not a suspension, and ultimately, it’s something all parties can learn from.