Ryan Leonard: 2024 Annual Review and Forecast


Photo: Boston College Athletics

We continue our Washington Capitals annual prospect review and forecast series for the 2023-24 season with Ryan Leonard, forward for the Boston College Eagles. (You can access all of our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page right here.)

VITALS

Leonard, 19, was drafted by the Capitals in the first round (8th overall) of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Leonard, who hails from Amherst, MS, plays forward for Boston College and remains unsigned by the Capitals.

CAREER SUMMARY

While Leonard is listed as a center, he played all three forward positions with the US National U18 squad. He was also part of the dynamic line composed of Gabe Perreault and Will Smith. The entire trio headed to Boston College for the 2023-24 season.

In 2022-23, Leonard had a strong year with the U18 team racking up 94 points (51 goals, 43 assists) in 57 games. In the USHL, he had 20 points (11 goals, nine assists) in 17 games. He also led Team USA to a gold medal in the U18 World Championship.

In 2023-24, Leonard started quietly but got hot on a goal-scoring streak in November. He played in 41 games, scored 31 goals and recorded 29 assists and had 168 shots on goals. He took 19 penalties for 38 penalty minutes overall.

Leonard also represented Team USA for the IIHF World Junior Championships that won the Gold Medal in January 2024. He contributed three goals and recorded three assists in seven games.

2023-2024 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS

The following is a compilation of our month-by-month prospect reports for Ryan Leonard during the 2023-2024 season. You can find all monthly prospect reports on our “Prospects” page in the top menu.

October

To start the season, Leonard was on a line with Will Smith and Gabe Perreault, his linemates from the USA Development team.

On October 7, during a 2-1 win in Overtime against the Quinnipiac Bobcats, Leonard had the primary assist on Cutter Gauthier’s overtime game-winning goal. This was his first point in college hockey.

He contributed assists in Boston College’s games against the Rensselaer Engineers and the Denver Pioneers during the weekend of October 20 and 21.

He finally scored his first college goal against Michigan State on October 26 against the Michigan State Spartans.

For October, Leonard scored one goal and had four assists in 6 games.  He had 21 shots on goal for the month.

November

Leonard scored one goal in each of the Eagles’ first four games in November. On November 3, against UMass Lowell, he scored on a one-timer from the slot.

The next day, also against UMass Lowell, he scored on a backdoor tap from Will Smith that ended up as the game-winner.

Leonard scored a late-game goal in a losing cause on November 10 against Maine. The following day, he scored the game-tying goal near the end of regulation in a game that proceeded to a shootout.

The goal-scoring streak ended against the University of Connecticut Huskies on November 17. But he still recorded an assist in that game and an assist in their game against the Huskies the next day.

He exploded in goal-scoring during the last weekend of November. He scored two goals against the Notre Dame Irish on November 24 in a 6-1 win. His first goal against the Irish was a tip-in. He scored two goals in a 4-1 win against the Harvard Crimson on November 26.  His performance that weekend earned him the Hockey East Player of the Week.

During November, he played in 8 games where scored 8 goals and recorded 3 assists. He had 30 shots on goal.

December

Leonard extended his goal-scoring streak to three games on December 1 in a 5-3 loss to the Northeastern Huskies. He also had two penalties in that game.

On December 9, against Providence College, he had the secondary assist on a Gabe Perreault goal that put Boston College up 2-0 in a game they eventually won 5-4.

For the remainder of the month, Leonard, his linemates, and Cutter Gauthier represented the United States at the World Junior games.

For December, Leonard played in three games, scored one goal, and recorded one assist. He had 15 shots on goal.

January

Leonard helped Team USA win the Gold Medal at the 2024 World Junior Championships in December and January. He played in seven games, scored three goals, and recorded three assists. He had a goal in the World Junior Final game against Team Sweden.

On January 12, Leonard and his linemates continued where they left off at World Juniors. In a 7-1 win against the Providence College Friars, Leonard made a sharp-angle shot towards the goaltender which snuck through the five-hole for a goal. He also assisted on a Will Smith goal on a backdoor feed. The next day, he contributed two assists in a 4-3 loss to Providence.

On January 19, in a back-and-forth game against Merrimack, he scored the goal that proved to be the game-winner in a 6-4 win. He also contributed a secondary assist, but also took two penalties. Two days later, he recorded two assists during a 6-2 win against Merrimack.

On January 26, against Boston University, he scored the game’s first goal at 3:34 into the second period. He made a wrist shot from the far circle which beat Terriers’ goaltender Mathieu Caron to the glove side, giving Boston College a 1-0 lead. He had the secondary assist on the team’s second goal, scored by Perreault. Leonard chipped the puck to Smith along the boards who then passed to Perreault. The Eagles went on to win 4-1.

The next day, in a 4-3 win against the Terriers, Leonard grabbed the puck and made a spin-around pass to Will Smith who shot the puck through Caron’s five-hole for the score which put the Eagles ahead 3-2.

For January, Leonard scored three goals and recorded seven assists in six games. He had 19 shots on goals.

February

Leonard scored at least one goal in six of the eight games Boston College played and recorded an assist in the two games where he did not score a goal. In fact, his last pointless game was back on December 2.

On February 16, Leonard scored two goals against the University of Massachusetts, one on the power play at 17:21 into the second period and the other near the end of the third period

Gauthier, Leonard Lead BC Past UMass – Boston College Athletics (bceagles.com)

On February 18, Leonard scored a hat trick as they swept Massachusetts 6-4. He scored his first goal at 6:44 after his linemate Gabe Perreault threaded a pass to him that he shot into the net. He scored his other two goals on back-to-back power plays just 58 seconds apart. His first power-play goal was 20 seconds into a 5-on-3 man advantage and tied the game 4-4. His go-ahead goal came at 11:01 and put Boston College up 5-4.

For February, Leonard played in 8 games, scored 10 goals, and recorded six assists. He had 36 shots on goal.

March and April

On the weekend of March 1-3, they played a home-and-home series against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats. They won the first game on March 1, which was at New Hampshire, by a 5-3 score. Ryan Leonard in that game scored two goals, including the game-winner.

Leonard scored the game’s first goal at 4:05 in the first period, skating through the left circle and firing an off-balance shot into the back of the net. With the score at 3-3 in a see-saw type of game, Leonard scored the go-ahead and ultimately game-winning goal at 16:49 on a power play, putting them ahead 4-3.

On March 3, he assisted on the team’s only goal against the Wildcats in a 1-0 win which extended his point streak to 11 games. This win allowed Boston College to clinch the Hockey East Regular Season Championship and, thus, the top seed in the conference tournament. This was Boston College’s 18th Hockey East regular season title and the first since 2021.

Boston College’s last regular season was on May 9 against Merrimack.  After that, they advanced to the Hockey East Tournament where they were the top seed, playing Connecticut in the Quarterfinals on March 16 and beating them 5-4. Leonard earned Boston College’s fourth goal near the end of the second period on a tip-in to increase their lead to 4-1.

They moved on to the Hockey East Semifinals and played the University of Massachusetts on March 22, beating them 8-1. Massachusetts had scored the first goal but gave up eight unanswered goals. Ryan Leonard scored the first goal for Boston College at 8:02 during the first period to even up the score at 1-1. Leonard backhanded a shot into the open net after a rebound from a shot by Will Smith. Leonard contributed two primary assists on goals scored during the second period.

Boston College then met Boston University in the Hockey East Finals on March 23, beating them 6-2 to become the Hockey East Champions. Leonard contributed two assists in a contest that was most notable for Will Smith scoring four goals.

After that, Boston College advanced to the NCAA Providence Regional, beating Michigan Tech 6-1 on March 29. Leonard had an amazing game where he had two goals and one assist. With Boston and Michigan tied at 1-1, Leonard put the Eagles back in front midway through the second after getting his stick on a loose puck near the crease. He scored his second goal of the game at 7:58 during the second period on a power play, putting Boston College ahead 2-1. Boston College went on to score four goals during the third period. He assisted on the team’s fourth goal.

Boston College then played Quinnipiac Bobcats on March 31, the defending NCAA champion from 2023, in the NCAA Providence Regional Finals. Quinnipiac had jumped to a 2-0 score early in the second period, thanks to two power plays. But soon after Quinnipiac’s second goal, Leonard scored for Boston College on their power play to get on the scoreboard.

With the score 3-2 in favor of Quinnipiac late in the second period, Leonard scored again, to tie the score at 3-3. Both teams added another goal during third period with Boston College winning the game 5-4 in Overtime to advance to the Frozen Four.

With two goals in two consecutive games, Leonard earned a spot on the Providence Regional All-Tournament Team. Leonard recorded his eighth multi-goal game to push his season total to 31 and break Brian Gionta’s (1997-98) single-season goal record by a BC freshman.

Boston College now advanced to the Frozen Four where they played the Michigan Wolverines in the semi-final on April 11 and beat them 4-0. Leonard had the primary assist on the team’s first goal which was scored by Will Smith early during the first period. They now advanced to play the Denver Pioneers in the Frozen Four Final on April 13 and fell 4-0.

For March, to conclude the regular season, he played in three regular season games, scored two goals, and had one assist.

For the playoffs in March and April, he played in seven games, scored six goals and recorded six assists.

Leonard played in 41 games, scored 31 goals and recorded 29 assists. He had 168 shots on goals. He took 19 penalties for 38 penalty minutes overall.

When the season was over, he was named a second-team All-American. He also had broken Brian Gionta’s team record for goals by a freshman after scoring his 30th goal.

PLAYER FORECAST

Leonard will return to Boston College for his sophomore season. He should be taking on more of a leadership role there as Boston College’s goal is to win the NCAA Frozen Four Finals this coming season instead of finishing as runner-up. He and his linemates, Will Smith and Gabe Perreault, also hope to take more of a leadership role for Team USA as they try to repeat as champions in the World Junior games.

He is also representing Team USA in the World Championships this summer along with linemate, Will Smith.

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By Diane Doyle





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