ARLINGTON, V.A. — One full year playing in the NHL has offered Washington Capitals rookie Ryan Leonard a new perspective.
The first lesson: it goes by so fast. Leonard himself didn’t realize at first that Wednesday was exactly one year to the day that he made in NHL debut in front of family and friends in his hometown of Boston.
“Everyone always says it, how fast that year always goes. You never want to take a moment for granted, and you just kind of want to continue to grow your game and take advantage of all your resources,” Leonard said.
Not only does time fly, but it’s not smooth sailing, either. The NHL is its own winding path, a roller coaster that the 21-year-old is still getting a grip on.
It was quite the jump for Leonard last April; in a matter of days, he went from a college sophomore to the pros, getting to experience just a handful of regular-season games and notching one goal — an empty-netter, before being thrown right into the thick of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where he managed just one assist.
A full offseason and training camp worked wonders for Leonard, though, and he’s been able to grow and take his game to a whole new level in his first true rookie campaign.
Through 68 games so far, Leonard has 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points, the fourth-most among freshmen this season, despite missing a good chunk of time with a shoulder injury earlier in the year. He was also the Capitals’ leading scorer through a pivotal March to get D.C. back within close range of a playoff spot.
“He’s always had it all year. He loves these, these games, and you can feel like he wants to be out there every other shift. And that's just who he is, his DNA is as a person and as a player,” coach Spencer Carbery said. “He wants to puck on his stick, he wants to go in the shootout, he wants to be out on the power play in every situation.”
For Leonard, that competitive edge is something he’s always had in his game, and with his team needing every possible point to try and sneak into the postseason, he knew he had to rise to the occasion.
In turn, he’s brought his A-game, playing whatever role necessary to help his team, whether that means scoring goals or dropping the gloves.
“Those (games) are what you play for. If you're playing in those games, you're you're doing something right, and those are the games you try to thrive in,” Leonard said. “And those are games you really try to take another step to do anything you can for the team.”
It’s all part of the learning experience for Leonard, and his team has also seen major growth from him on the ice and away from the rink.
Brandon Duhaime mentioned that he’s noticed Leonard playing a more “mature” overall game, and also finding more consistency when it comes to his decision making.
“Coming from college, there's some plays that you can make that might work there and not here, and it’s definitely a learning curve. And I think he's done a great job all year of kind of knowing the time to make those plays and knowing the time to get it deep, or something like that,” Duhaime said.
Carbery also noted how he’s not as hard on himself as he used to be, and is more patient and confident in himself.
“He’s worked really hard on just being able to stay in the moment and move on to his next shift and not beat himself up because he missed a scoring chance or missed a breakaway,” Carbery said.
Leonard’s also grown off the ice, as he’s grown used to living on his own while becoming a better cook and doing the laundry himself.
“Same punk kid,” Duhaime quipped. “No, he’s grown as a person… we’re proud of him. He showing up with clean clothes and cooking his own meals.”
With the season winding down and the Capitals still having some ground to make up to get across the finish line and back into the playoffs, Leonard is ready to continue bringing the heat and, as always, continue to trend upward.
“Everyone wants it a little bit more,” Leonard said. “We know where we're at and what we have to do to give us the best chance to get in. And we're not giving up.”