5 reasons Ryan Leonard will take the Capitals to the Stanley Cup

#3 Washington fits his style of play

Many people including myself wanted the Caps to select Matvei Michkov and even trade up for him if possible. Instead the Philadelphia Flyers selected him and there was no trade up.
But the Caps were OK with it.

“I thought that was a possibility,” said Capitals assistant general manager and draft architect Ross Mahoney.

“You’re trying to pick teams that might take him, and I thought that was one of the teams that might step up and take him, and they did. So it wasn’t really a surprise, no.”

When Leonard’s name was called he was relieved.

“Heart was pounding as hard as it could probably,” said Leonard. “It was a really special moment for me and my family.”

“I’m staying in the red, white and blue. I know (Washington) fits my style of play and I can’t wait to get started.”

Leonard is an Amherst, Massachusetts native who grew up a Boston Bruins fan. No surprise there. His favorite players growing up were Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and Milan Lucic.

The none Bruins that he modeled his game after included Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers, Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers, and Alex Tuch of the Buffalo Sabres.