Tonight at 7pm, the Caps and Sens will square off in Canada’s capital city, where Ryan Leonard will play in his 100th NHL game. Leno had a promising rookie season, despite some growing pains. This season, No. 9 has been electric this season. Whether a flashy move, a hard hit, a great pass, or that wicked wrister from the slot, it’s becoming apparent that the Caps lucked into something special back in June of 2023 when they picked Leonard eighth overall.
Leonard recently signed an eight-year contract extension that will pay him a reported $10.5 million per year beginning next season. That’s more than Alex Ovechkin makes. But there are a few similarities between the two. Leno’s goal against the Devils the other night, the way he read the play, skated and deked past three guys before beating the goalie was Ovechkin-esque and the two are just as excited no matter who scores. When asked by Mike Vogel what was different from last season and now, Leonard said:
“You just gotta go out there and play… for myself, don’t think too much, and just go out there and be me.”
“I think more at the start, for myself, it was ‘try to do everything right,’ where sometimes that’s out of your control. You’ve just got to go out there and play.”
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 10, 2026
Mike Vogel and Ryan Leonard reflect on the forward’s first 99 games in the League.#CapsSens | @MedStarHealth pic.twitter.com/lmtFQHLOzO
That seems to be working. Based on what head coach Spencer Carbery had to say about Leonard, we should expect him to keep getting better.
“The talent is long before he came to Washington. You saw that at BC (Boston College), on the world stage at the World Juniors. But then coming to the NHL is a whole different animal…now him coming in, utilizing his talent…[is] an ultra, ultra-competitive young man…very, very coachable… I think he’s just scratching the surface with what he’s gonna be able to accomplish in this league.”
While Leonard’s play has people buzzing, he most recently skating on the Caps’ “fourth line” with Justin Sourdif and Boone Jenner. Some may interpret this as a demotion, but that’s not it. It’s the Capitals embarrassment of riches at the forward position that is to blame. The Caps are so deep at forward that they don’t really have a fourth line. They have four lines that can play in a lot of different situations. The coaches can roll all four lines during most games and make it hard for opponents on any given night.
That’s how head coach Spencer Carbery can play the franchise’s prized young winger on their so-called fourth line and the kid can still be on pace for 60-plus points this season. Leonard has 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points this season and has 26 goals and 31 assists for 57 career points in 99 games in the league.
Leonard will look to add to those totals tonight in Ottawa. Puck drops a little after 7pm.
Projected lines combos
Alex Tuch - Dylan Strome - Jordan Kyrou
Aliaksei Protas - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Tom Wilson
Alex Ovechkin - Justin Sourdif - Anthony Beauvillier
Boone Jenner - Ilya Protas - Ryan Leonard
Defensive pairings
Jakob Chychrun -- Matt Roy
Martin Fehervary -- Timothy Liljegren
Cole Hutson -- Jack St. Ivany
Logan Thompson gets the start and is backed up by Charlie Lindgren
Ethen Frank, Ivan Miroshnichenko, and Justin Holl are the healthy scratches.
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