Rebecca Leslie has already surpassed her career totals for goals and tied her points total in less than half of the current PWHL season. When you look at her career, it's less of an aberration, and more of a return to top line form.
In her first two seasons in the PWHL, Rebecca Leslie scored three goals and 12 points in 51 games. This season, the Ottawa Charge forward has recorded six goals and 12 points in 14 games.
When you go back to her 2022-23 season with Team Sonnet in the PWHPA, Leslie had only 15 points in 71 games prior to this season.
When you look at Leslie's career however, it's becoming more clear that her three year "slump" was the statistical aberration, not her emergence as a top ten scorer in the PWHL this season.
Spanning back to her U-18 seasons, Leslie has been a consistent producer. She scored five points in five games in 2014 representing Canada's U-18 national team, winning gold.
During her NCAA career, Leslie was one of the top scoring players in the nation recording 171 points in 139 games, captaining Boston University in her final season. As a senior she scored 24 goals and 57 points in 33 games.
The following season as a rookie in the CWHL's final year, Leslie helped the Calgary Inferno win the final Clarkson Cup, finishing tied for third in team scoring. Here 26 points in 27 games finished behind only Rebecca Johnston, Brianne Jenner, and tied Hall of Famer Brianna Decker. She finished five points ahead of current Toronto Sceptres captain Blayre Turnbull.
Looking at Rebecca Leslie's body of work, her play this season appears to be less of the aberration statistically, and more of a return to the norm for the hometown Ottawa product.
With no league to remain sharp during the PWHPA's four-season Dream Gap tour, Leslie like many non-national team players had to defer much of her training and saw her game readiness and sharpness decline.
Joining the PWHL, Leslie was relegated to a checking line role behind Toronto's depth of players coming directly from the NCAA and those who had been involved in national team play. Even in her first season with the Toronto Sceptres, Leslie was among league and team leaders in points/60 minutes where she finished 20th in the league.
This season however, has been Leslie's first opportunity since her time in the CWHL to regularly play in a top six scoring role.
The results have been clear as she currently sits tied with Marie-Philip Poulin, Taylor Heise, and Kelly Pannek for fourth in PWHL scoring with 12 points.
While Rebecca Leslie looks like a breakout star offensively, she's perhaps a player who is more accurately returning to form after working her way back to a more familiar and fitting spot in the lineup.