2023 was quite the year Ryan Leonard. Last week, he became the Washington Capitals’ first top-10 selection, with the No. 8 pick in the 2023 NHL draft, since 2007 and is now in Capitals uniform training at development camp.
The future Boston College product stood out to many fans from the moment he arrived at the Medstar Capitals Iceplex. He played as advertised: a tenacious 200-foot player with an excellent shot. Capitals goaltender Chase Clark said Leonard’s shot was one of his toughest shots during camp.
The Amherst, Mass., native began perfecting his shot as well as any young player.
“Downstairs,” Leonard said with a smile. “This is where you go downstairs where you’re a kid and shoot no matter how many pucks a day. It makes your parents buy you all those stupid goals that you’ll break in a couple of days and wait for a new one to come in.”
Before coming to the nation’s capital, Leonard spent the past two years with the U.S. Under-18 National Team and the USA National Team. Last season, he set NTDP records with 94 points (51 goals, 43 assists), third on the team. He was equally impressive in the USHL, scoring 20 points (11 goals and nine assists) in 17 games.
While getting drafted by Washington was one of the most memorable moments of his career, it certainly wasn’t the biggest for the 18-year-old.
There has never been a greater moment in Leonard’s walk from his extra goal against Sweden in the gold medal match at the U-18 World Championships. This was the second year in a row that the Americans faced the Swedes in the final. It was déjà vu for the red, white and blue, as they were down 2-0 going into the third period.
“There was no worry at all. The team has been together for the past few years. We’re not going to lose that game,” Leonard said. “We took control. The disc was at their end the entire game. It was kind of a question of when to go in target and kind of let things take over. The whole team stuck together and there really wasn’t much to worry about.”
The Americans started the comeback at the 9:44 mark of the final frame, when Zeev Buyom’s shot was deflected by Danny Nelson. With the momentum in their favour, Casey Terrance tied the game with a power play goal with 3:16 to go in regulation.
Then, just three minutes into overtime, a slalomed Leonard found his way in an excellent scoring opportunity to end the game.
“The game has gone on long enough,” Leonard said. “I got a pass from Cole [Eiserman]. The D sucked in a bit, so I tried to cut to the middle and shoot. It wasn’t the best place to shoot but he got in.”
Leonard’s heroics ended a six-year gold medal drought for the U18 group. Moreover, his golden goal was his eighth goal in the playoffs that led the entire tournament. It was the perfect end to what awaited the young winger.
However, Leonard believes that he did not need to achieve this goal in order to raise his stock for the upcoming draft.
“I don’t think it really matters at this point,” Leonard said. “I think I kind of proved myself all year. It was just whatever kind of came along in that in-between moment. It was just a matter of us getting the job done.”
By Jacob Shires