Rebecca Leslie was an NCAA star, and a CWHL star. It's taken her until her third season of PWHL play to earn a scoring line opportunity, something she's making good use of with the Ottawa Charge.
It might seem like an odd question for a player who was a 12th round pick to enter the PWHL, but if you look at Rebecca Leslie's career, it's easy to see that had the PWHL existed sooner, her trajectory may have placed her alongside the names many in Canada have come to know through their national team play.
Leslie, getting her first chance in her three season PWHL career to play top line minutes this season with the Ottawa Charge, has responded showing the scoring and playmaking skills she was known for earlier in her career. Through eight games this season, Leslie is sitting in the top ten in PWHL scoring with seven points.
Heading into the NCAA, Leslie was a high scoring forward with the Ottawa Lady Senators in what is now called the OWHL U-22 Elite league. That year, 2014, Leslie also won gold with Canada's U-18 national team scoring five points in five games on a team that included Hannah Miller, Micah Zandee-Hart, Sarah Potomak, and Victoria Bach, who all got their chance with Team Canada.
At Boston University, Leslie totalled 171 career points, good for fourth overall in program history, one spot behind Marie-Philip Poulin who sits third all-time among Terriers. When it comes to assists, Leslie is Boston University's all-time leader with 102, two ahead of Poulin, and eight ahead of Bach. Leslie captained the program in her senior season.
The following year, 2018-2019, Leslie turned pro in the CWHL scoring 26 points in 27 games for the Calgary Inferno, who won the Clarkson Cup that season. That Inferno roster included future Hockey Hall of Famer Brianna Decker who Leslie tied for third in team scoring, as well as her current linemate and Canadian national team star Brianne Jenner. The roster also included long time Canadian and American national team members Blayre Turnbull, Rebecca Johnston, Kacey Bellamy, and Brigette Lacquette, among others. In fact, of Calgary's top eight scorers that season, Leslie was the only player who didn't represent Canada or the United States at multiple World Championships or Olympic Games.
When her season with the Calgary Inferno ended, that's when her upward trajectory hit a speed bump.
In 2019 the CWHL folded, and from that was born the PWHPA. Leslie, who joined the PWHPA was one of the many outside the North American national team members who saw the number of team practices and games plummet in that era, just as she was beginning to climb.
In 2020-21 and 2021-22, Leslie only played 10 total games, scoring 12 points.
But when the PWHPA ramped up their competitive level in 2022-23 with Leslie playing for Team Sonnet, she didn't produce. In 20 games that season she had only three assists. It was the final impression before the birth of the PWHL.
It's why no one batted an eye when PWHL Toronto took Leslie in the 12th round, 71st overall in the inaugural draft. She wasn't expected to step in and be a scorer.
In that inaugural season, despite seeing some of the lowest ice time of any member of PWHL Toronto, Leslie tied Blayre Turnbull for seventh in scoring on the Sceptres with nine points in 24 games. Every player above Leslie that season on the Sceptres played for Team Canada at this year's Rivalry Series.
Moving to the Ottawa Charge in the second season of the PWHL, Leslie's two-way impact became more evident, although she was again buried in a depth role with the Charge, this time with less offensive success.
This season however, getting her first scoring line opportunities since the NCAA and CWHL, Leslie is thriving. She's using her combination of speed and puck skills to get herself into scoring positions, or to set up her linemates.
Leslie's emergence has also played a role as the Ottawa Charge have become more competitive following a sluggish start. Although it's still early, Rebecca Leslie could be the PWHL's breakout player of the year. It also leaves you to wonder, had Leslie spent the last four years on a top line in the PWHL, would she be in the running for a spot with Team Canada like many of her past and present teammates?