The Capitals rookie hit 20 goals and had 45 points in 75 games.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — The work is just beginning for Washington Capitals rising star Ryan Leonard.
For Leonard, this past year was a learning curve, where he not only had to adapt to the ever-changing speed of the game and play on the ice, but had to grow a bit off the ice, too.
It was the first time Leonard was living on his own, as he moved out of Pierre-Luc Dubois' house earlier in the season, and that was one area that helped him take a step forward.
"It's a completely different side of the world. I lived in a dorm room last year, I didn't have to cook, I was with seven other guys, so I was messing around all day and every day," Leonard said. "It was kind of cool to see myself grow, living by myself and what to really do and how to really maintain your time."
Ultimately, he found the game start to slow down for him, and in turn, he started to find more success, especially down the stretch.
Leonard busted out onto the scene in his first full rookie season, hitting the 20-goal mark for the first time and ranking fifth in overall scoring among all NHL freshmen. He also led the Capitals with 10 goals and 15 points through the final 20 games of the season to help D.C. make one last push for the playoffs.
"They started to go in for me toward the end," Leonard said of his season. "I could really contribute to some of these team wins."
Leonard's season didn't end with Washington's, though. He continued skating and is currently overseas representing Team USA at the IIHF World Championships, where he's playing top-line minutes and doing what he can to spark the offense.
After Worlds, he's going to spend some time with family but will be quick to get back on the ice, as he wants to fine-tune all the different aspects of his game and continue to build on his skill-set.
“(I want to work on) everything, just whatever I was doing here at the end,” Leonard said. “You try to do everything you can and make it game-like. So, seeing what the actual pro game is about and seeing what areas in my game I can improve on to help me be better next year and help this team win more games.”
He also said that he's only scratched the surface, and that going forward, there is still a lot left to prove.
"There's kind of a certain point in the year where you realize who you are, and when you have the puck, how much more time you have, you kind of just figure out a little bit how this league works," Leonard said. "I'm not even close to kind of figuring it out at all. It's one year, I'm still 21 years old, so hopefully have a lot more time in this league and the game just continues to slow down."