The Washington Capitals just got more loaded. Tonight at TD Garden you'll see the debut Ryan Leonard. Plus there's the league wide storyline of Alex Ovechkin chasing down Wayne Gretzky's mark.
Ryan Leonard and Alex Ovechkin together at last
The Capitals signed Ryan Leonard to a three year entry level contract on Monday. The Amherst, Massachusetts native, who was selected by the Capitals with the eighth overall pick makes his NHL debut. The 20 year old is coming off a sophomore season at Boston College where he scored 30 goals and added 19 assists for 49 points in 37 games.
Leonard will take the ice skating the right side of a line with Aliaksei Protas and Dylan Strome. He took part in his first NHL scrum today:
"First and foremost, I think everyone here has a lot of trust in me, and I want to thank them for that. Coming in (Monday) and meeting all the guys and meeting a couple of the guys I didn't see (Monday), the group in here seems like they like to have a good time, and they keep it loose in here. It makes my job easy out there on the ice, knowing that the guys in here aren't going to shame you, but they're going to be your brothers, too. "Ryan Leonard
Two nights prior Leonard's Boston College Eagles fell to Denver in the NCAA postseason tournament. Now he goes from the agony of defeat on the college stage to the NHL stage in a 48 hour span.
As for Alex Ovechkin, he did what true captains do and took his new teammate out last night. Leonard would add, "Just hanging out with those guys, it was pretty cool. Ovi wanted to see where I went to school, so we went there for 30 minutes or an hour just to show him, and he loved it. I'm just trying to really embrace this moment, build the connections, and try to have fun."
“Everyone’s telling me to just be me … Just try to go play my game out there tonight and really have fun.”
— x - Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 1, 2025
Ryan Leonard meets with the media ahead of his expected NHL debut tonight in Boston.#CapsBruins | @MedStarHealth pic.twitter.com/12Jqa3ZHw8
With Leonard in the lineup, Taylor Raddysh will be the odd man out tonight with Charlie Lindgren getting the start in goal. Ovechkin will be paired up top with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson. Matt Roy is also not here due to personal/family reasons.
Here are the projected line combinations
Ovechkin-PLD-Wilson
Protas-Strome-Leonard
Mangiapane-Eller-McMichael
Duhaime-Dowd-Beauvillier
Sandin-Carlson
Chychrun-TvR
Fehervary-McIlrath
Lindgren
Puck drop tonight is at 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network. You can also listen to the game on 106.7 The Fan and Caps Radio 24/7.