Capitals prospect Ryan Leonard to continue NCAA career at Boston College

The Washington Capitals will enter the Stanley Cup playoffs this Sunday and they're already hard at work game planning to beat the New York Rangers. Ryan Leonard won't join the Capitals as a postseason black ace despite the phenomenal freshman season he had at Boston College. In the end though it was the right choice.

Remember the Caps have been winning with the house money that they have and so have the Boston College Eagles. And they came oh so close to championship glory. Leonard will enter his sophomore season with a chip on his shoulder looking to take the Eagles back to the Natty Championship to finish the job.

Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan wholeheartedly supported the decisioin, saying in a press release:

"Ryan Leonard indicated his desire to return for his sophomore season at Boston College. We support Ryan's decision to return to one of the best programs in the nation to continue his development. Ryan showed great leadership and made tremendous progress during his first year, which saw him score the most goals by a freshman in Boston College program history and the third most goals in the NCAA. We will continue to monitor his development and progress next year and look forward to watching Ryan build upon his successful freshman season."

In 41 regular season games for the Eagles, Leonard had 31 goals and 29 assists for 60 points. That included 38 penalty minutes a plus minus of a plus 36. In the World Juniors which he represented Team USA to the Gold Medal with three goals and three assists for six points in the seven game tournament. He had a plus minus of plus two along with four penalty minutes.

This update came just hours after Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on The Jeff Marek Show that the Caps tried to convince him to join the team but the kid wanted to continue his college career and education.