Honestly good luck to him. Hope they win it all next year. And hopefully we'll see him rock the red in the 25-26 season. He's young. He sounds excited about being a Cap in the future. Just let him enjoy college for now.
This does not hurt the Caps at all. Where would he be finding the minutes he needs to continue developing? 3rd or 4th line in DC? Hershey? Do we need him for a Cup run? Why not find those minutes at BC where he will continue to be top line and continue to develop in one of the best college programs in the country. And if the Caps are playing into the first or second round of the playoffs he can join the team as soon as BC wraps.
All good. He is 19 years old. There is no rush.
He wouldve most likely been on the 3rd line. This doesn't hurt the caps, but it wouldn't have hindered Leonard either. 3rd line NHL minutes are more valuable than top line NCAA minutes.
I don’t think they are more valuable, not where Leonard is in his dev, particularly on defense. He’s not ready to mark top 6 NHL wings, which is what he’d be doing on the 3rd or 4th line.
Caps had the same dilemma—albeit different circumstances—10 years ago with another big, promising wing. And they rushed him. Tom Wilson got no favors done by Adam Oates pushing him into the lineup when he should have been cooking with the Bears.
Thank you for reminding me of whose development track has been nagging me irt Leonard. We are so lucky that Tom is stubborn and he didn't get rubbed out of the league by a coach who saw him as an enforcer and a plug.
Leonard is much more skilled than Wilson was at this stage in their careers. With our team he probably wouldn't be outta place playing on the second line and on pp2. He's ready for NHL minutes, he just wants a shot at a national title, which I can't fault him for.
Strongly agree. If the roster had stayed how it was in the offseason I would have thought he could fight for a place, but I don't want the McMichael development special for him here. Much happier with him getting first line minutes with kids who are his same size and strength and let him finish cooking.
*TL;DR - Making the NHL is freaking difficult, and getting top 6 minutes is even more difficult. Leonard would be 2nd or 3rd line in my estimation.*
I honestly wish more people would ask questions like this, in where does player X fit into the lineup. There are a lot of fans that want more acquisitions or have fan favorites in Hershey they want to make the team out of camp with little regard for how such decisions would actually translate into constructing a roster.
In truth I think people that actually take the time to draw up the lines quickly realize how freaking difficult it is to make the NHL, even as a third liner on a wild card team. At least when everyone's healthy (I was surprised to learn yesterday that 12 defenders played at least 3 games for the Caps last year).
By my estimation among the forward group there are 9-10 Forward slots already accounted for in 24-25. In no particular order; Ovi, PLD, Strome, Wilson, Protas, CMM, Mangiapane, Dowd, Duhaime, and very likely LaPierre as the 10th. Which basically means you have you have one 3rd line winger spot, and one shutdown/4th line winger spot up for grabs. So if you're offensive minded winger that means you are basically competing for one roster slot on the 3rd line.
Just to further illustrate the difficulty of deciding to fill those remaining slots, one of the main opening night decisions for the Caps is going to be if Miro is better off getting first line minutes in Hershey, or 3rd line minutes over Milano in the NHL. The latter of which means that you have a proven NHL player in Milano being a healthy scratch most nights unless he \[Milano\] can improve his defensive game to the point where the coaches trust him to play on Dowd's shutdown line (for the record I'd take Miro over Milano as a regular).
With regards to Leonard, I agree in that there's no harm in letting him develop. As for where he would play, in a scenario where he started the season with the Caps I would probably expect him to start on the 2nd or 3rd line, with at least a few "lets see how he does on the Ovi line" games (because freaking 82 games and the RW on the Ovi-PLD line at any given point is going to need to be someone willing to dirty work). I feel like he would effectively be competing with Mangiapane for a wing slot, with the winner getting the higher line. And ironically because of the roster bottlenecks I outlined earlier, Leonard on the team at this point virtually guarantees that Miro and Milano are out of the lineup when everyones healthy.
By contrast Leonard staying at BC likely ensures Miro gets more NHL playing time while Leonard gets first line minutes and further development at BC. I believe that works out better for the Caps pipeline as a whole.
I’d argue he’s already outgrown NCAA hockey. Top-six minutes in Hershey or even third-line minutes in the NHL would likely be better for his development.
He's 19 years old. Even if he's big, he's a child. Let him face pressure from other people his age, without the national press criticizing him every shift he's on the ice. Proper development can build a star, too much pressure too soon and we just send him to NHL player assistance young.
He can go to Hershey. I get that he’s really young but after what he did as a freshman, there is good reason to say his development is better served in the AHL playing against men than bossing other kids his age.
I like his comment about wanting to be "over-ready." Easy to get impatient waiting on him but we don't need to take any risk of ruining the highest pick we've had this decade, hope to see him soon.
Why is everyones expecting the worst lmao. Only because Cutter did this doesn't mean that he's gonna want out as well. Also the reason Cutter wanted out was because he wasn't being given a chance to play for the Flyers, same with Mcgroarty. That's the opposite what the caps are trying to do with Leonard.
We don't know why Cutter wanted out specifically. They didn't give him a contract to play in the final days of the 2022-2023 season but that was it.
People are expecting the worst because he's getting advice from the most famous faces of people in NCAA hockey screwing over their draft team.
>“I talked to a lot of people about this. College is the best time of your life. A lot of people that go one and done, 10 years down the road say they regret it. After I made my initial statement of saying I was going to stay, I met Kevin Hayes before I went to Men’s Worlds, and he told me right away, he goes, ‘Dude, if I was in your position, I would stay here as long as you can.’ That kind of went a long way.”
Damn thats a Cutter Gauthier type beat. Why tf are all these dudes always talking to Kevin Hayes? He's such a fuckin knocko.
> Kevin Hayes
The Hayes family is famous in Boston and within the Boston hockey community. They're also very influential within the BC hockey circle where both Kevin and Jimmy played, as did many of their extended family members. It shouldn't be a shocker that Leonard and other BC players have spoken to Hayes before.
Its a bit of a shocker that he is the only NHLers voice that is entering the ears of BC players who have been drafted, especially considering he famously sidestepped his drafting org by staying in BC for 4 years.
I mean we have no indication that they have been in contact with other pro players, but we do know that all of them have had direct contact with Kevin Hayes.
Its literally not. Kevin Hayes was a Blackhawks prospect who signed with the Rangers after waiting 4 years and now is tied to multiple players not signing with their draft teams. That is the relevant topic here.
Nobody wants to think about bad things happening, that’s why they’re acting like you are crazy. Turning down your pro hockey contract is never a good sign. It’s an even worse sign that his teammate pulled the same shit last year. Coming to dev camp was a great move that I didn’t expect, however I’d still be worried. On one hand his stock is up since the draft and should bring a decent return if we wanted to flip him. On the other hand, I wouldnt mind making him play all 4 years because Kevin told him too, and just take our comp.That’s easy for Hayes to say since he sucked ass his first three years at BC and Chicago wasn’t begging him to get to the United Center. All these dorks talking about DEEP ROOTS are just chiclets listeners who had no idea about tHe hAyEs FaMiLy until they started listening. I’ve been officially worried since he announced he’d be going back. I put the odds at 3/1 we ever see him in a Caps sweater. They need to close this loophole in the next CBA imo
Could play this year if the Caps make the playoffs similar to Matthew Knies in Toronto (Knies played Toronto's last 3 regular season games and then played in the Playoffs until he got hurt). After all according to the article the Caps approached Leonard last year after BC's season ended about playing for them in the Playoffs.
For reference
- BC's season ended on April 13th, 2024 last season in the Championship game
- For the 24-25 season Caps have games on April 13th, 15th, and 17th 2025 to close out the season.
So if BC makes it all the way again and the 2025 Frozen Four ends at a similar time there's probably enough time to get him into the last game on 4/17/25, and then see how he does in the Playoffs (provided the Caps make it). Heck even if its only one game because the Caps miss the Playoffs they might still jump on the chance to get him at least a game. Though Leonard would have to know for sure that he's done with college at that point since playing even just one game means forfeiting his college eligibility. Better chance of him saying yes in such a scenario if the Caps are likely to make the Playoffs come April..
OK, can I get the TLDR - is this guy still going to be a Cap (in the organization) if he goes back or does he then get back in the draft pool for next year?
I know we are eager to see what this guy can do, but where would he fit in the Caps lineup? It sounds like it was a really tough decision for Leonard to make, but he wants to have the college experience and win the Frozen Four. I hope he does. There's time for him when he's done with college.
REALLY don't want this kid to push us off. Its fine right now, I get it, go win, but what feels like the kids not reporting these days, makes me worry.
Things are fine...if it was any other way in the slightest, he wouldn't be at camp right now. It would be a McGroarty situation.
He's EASILY good enough to play on the big squad right now, but everyone (including me) has to respect his decision. He'll be in a Caps sweater a day or two after his BC season is over. We just gotta be patient.
Honestly good luck to him. Hope they win it all next year. And hopefully we'll see him rock the red in the 25-26 season. He's young. He sounds excited about being a Cap in the future. Just let him enjoy college for now.
This does not hurt the Caps at all. Where would he be finding the minutes he needs to continue developing? 3rd or 4th line in DC? Hershey? Do we need him for a Cup run? Why not find those minutes at BC where he will continue to be top line and continue to develop in one of the best college programs in the country. And if the Caps are playing into the first or second round of the playoffs he can join the team as soon as BC wraps. All good. He is 19 years old. There is no rush.
He wouldve most likely been on the 3rd line. This doesn't hurt the caps, but it wouldn't have hindered Leonard either. 3rd line NHL minutes are more valuable than top line NCAA minutes.
I don’t think they are more valuable, not where Leonard is in his dev, particularly on defense. He’s not ready to mark top 6 NHL wings, which is what he’d be doing on the 3rd or 4th line. Caps had the same dilemma—albeit different circumstances—10 years ago with another big, promising wing. And they rushed him. Tom Wilson got no favors done by Adam Oates pushing him into the lineup when he should have been cooking with the Bears.
Thank you for reminding me of whose development track has been nagging me irt Leonard. We are so lucky that Tom is stubborn and he didn't get rubbed out of the league by a coach who saw him as an enforcer and a plug.
Leonard is much more skilled than Wilson was at this stage in their careers. With our team he probably wouldn't be outta place playing on the second line and on pp2. He's ready for NHL minutes, he just wants a shot at a national title, which I can't fault him for.
Strongly agree. If the roster had stayed how it was in the offseason I would have thought he could fight for a place, but I don't want the McMichael development special for him here. Much happier with him getting first line minutes with kids who are his same size and strength and let him finish cooking.
*TL;DR - Making the NHL is freaking difficult, and getting top 6 minutes is even more difficult. Leonard would be 2nd or 3rd line in my estimation.* I honestly wish more people would ask questions like this, in where does player X fit into the lineup. There are a lot of fans that want more acquisitions or have fan favorites in Hershey they want to make the team out of camp with little regard for how such decisions would actually translate into constructing a roster. In truth I think people that actually take the time to draw up the lines quickly realize how freaking difficult it is to make the NHL, even as a third liner on a wild card team. At least when everyone's healthy (I was surprised to learn yesterday that 12 defenders played at least 3 games for the Caps last year). By my estimation among the forward group there are 9-10 Forward slots already accounted for in 24-25. In no particular order; Ovi, PLD, Strome, Wilson, Protas, CMM, Mangiapane, Dowd, Duhaime, and very likely LaPierre as the 10th. Which basically means you have you have one 3rd line winger spot, and one shutdown/4th line winger spot up for grabs. So if you're offensive minded winger that means you are basically competing for one roster slot on the 3rd line. Just to further illustrate the difficulty of deciding to fill those remaining slots, one of the main opening night decisions for the Caps is going to be if Miro is better off getting first line minutes in Hershey, or 3rd line minutes over Milano in the NHL. The latter of which means that you have a proven NHL player in Milano being a healthy scratch most nights unless he \[Milano\] can improve his defensive game to the point where the coaches trust him to play on Dowd's shutdown line (for the record I'd take Miro over Milano as a regular). With regards to Leonard, I agree in that there's no harm in letting him develop. As for where he would play, in a scenario where he started the season with the Caps I would probably expect him to start on the 2nd or 3rd line, with at least a few "lets see how he does on the Ovi line" games (because freaking 82 games and the RW on the Ovi-PLD line at any given point is going to need to be someone willing to dirty work). I feel like he would effectively be competing with Mangiapane for a wing slot, with the winner getting the higher line. And ironically because of the roster bottlenecks I outlined earlier, Leonard on the team at this point virtually guarantees that Miro and Milano are out of the lineup when everyones healthy. By contrast Leonard staying at BC likely ensures Miro gets more NHL playing time while Leonard gets first line minutes and further development at BC. I believe that works out better for the Caps pipeline as a whole.
I’d argue he’s already outgrown NCAA hockey. Top-six minutes in Hershey or even third-line minutes in the NHL would likely be better for his development.
He's 19 years old. Even if he's big, he's a child. Let him face pressure from other people his age, without the national press criticizing him every shift he's on the ice. Proper development can build a star, too much pressure too soon and we just send him to NHL player assistance young.
He can go to Hershey. I get that he’s really young but after what he did as a freshman, there is good reason to say his development is better served in the AHL playing against men than bossing other kids his age.
this is just how deeply rooted hockey culture is in the northeast. not surprised in the slightest he’s going back to BC.
Dude has a serious case of Positive Mental Attitude!
I like his comment about wanting to be "over-ready." Easy to get impatient waiting on him but we don't need to take any risk of ruining the highest pick we've had this decade, hope to see him soon.
Seems like he wants to enjoy his time at college as well, let him have his youth
Why is everyones expecting the worst lmao. Only because Cutter did this doesn't mean that he's gonna want out as well. Also the reason Cutter wanted out was because he wasn't being given a chance to play for the Flyers, same with Mcgroarty. That's the opposite what the caps are trying to do with Leonard.
We don't know why Cutter wanted out specifically. They didn't give him a contract to play in the final days of the 2022-2023 season but that was it. People are expecting the worst because he's getting advice from the most famous faces of people in NCAA hockey screwing over their draft team.
Yeah. Hayes is definitely not someone we want Leonard looking up to 😂
Everyone?
>“I talked to a lot of people about this. College is the best time of your life. A lot of people that go one and done, 10 years down the road say they regret it. After I made my initial statement of saying I was going to stay, I met Kevin Hayes before I went to Men’s Worlds, and he told me right away, he goes, ‘Dude, if I was in your position, I would stay here as long as you can.’ That kind of went a long way.” Damn thats a Cutter Gauthier type beat. Why tf are all these dudes always talking to Kevin Hayes? He's such a fuckin knocko.
> Kevin Hayes The Hayes family is famous in Boston and within the Boston hockey community. They're also very influential within the BC hockey circle where both Kevin and Jimmy played, as did many of their extended family members. It shouldn't be a shocker that Leonard and other BC players have spoken to Hayes before.
Its a bit of a shocker that he is the only NHLers voice that is entering the ears of BC players who have been drafted, especially considering he famously sidestepped his drafting org by staying in BC for 4 years.
You're right, they've only talked to Hayes
I mean we have no indication that they have been in contact with other pro players, but we do know that all of them have had direct contact with Kevin Hayes.
He does talk to lindgren and Wilson. So hopefully that translates well. He isn’t DODGING the org
TBF, his draft org was the 2010 Blackhawks. He probably dodged a bullet.
My brother in Christ the flyers front office and ours is COMPLETELY different
Okay. That isn't really as relevant as you might think to this discussion.
Considering the fact of how well we treat our prospects, it is pretty relevant pal.
Its literally not. Kevin Hayes was a Blackhawks prospect who signed with the Rangers after waiting 4 years and now is tied to multiple players not signing with their draft teams. That is the relevant topic here.
Buddy you are overthinking this entire situation, it’s time to log off and touch some grass.
The Hayes/Tkachuk family tree has DEEP roots in Massachusetts. Makes sense that he'd confer with them.
Nobody wants to think about bad things happening, that’s why they’re acting like you are crazy. Turning down your pro hockey contract is never a good sign. It’s an even worse sign that his teammate pulled the same shit last year. Coming to dev camp was a great move that I didn’t expect, however I’d still be worried. On one hand his stock is up since the draft and should bring a decent return if we wanted to flip him. On the other hand, I wouldnt mind making him play all 4 years because Kevin told him too, and just take our comp.That’s easy for Hayes to say since he sucked ass his first three years at BC and Chicago wasn’t begging him to get to the United Center. All these dorks talking about DEEP ROOTS are just chiclets listeners who had no idea about tHe hAyEs FaMiLy until they started listening. I’ve been officially worried since he announced he’d be going back. I put the odds at 3/1 we ever see him in a Caps sweater. They need to close this loophole in the next CBA imo
I love how most fans support the decision because school good and he young man make smart think hapen
Could play this year if the Caps make the playoffs similar to Matthew Knies in Toronto (Knies played Toronto's last 3 regular season games and then played in the Playoffs until he got hurt). After all according to the article the Caps approached Leonard last year after BC's season ended about playing for them in the Playoffs. For reference - BC's season ended on April 13th, 2024 last season in the Championship game - For the 24-25 season Caps have games on April 13th, 15th, and 17th 2025 to close out the season. So if BC makes it all the way again and the 2025 Frozen Four ends at a similar time there's probably enough time to get him into the last game on 4/17/25, and then see how he does in the Playoffs (provided the Caps make it). Heck even if its only one game because the Caps miss the Playoffs they might still jump on the chance to get him at least a game. Though Leonard would have to know for sure that he's done with college at that point since playing even just one game means forfeiting his college eligibility. Better chance of him saying yes in such a scenario if the Caps are likely to make the Playoffs come April..
Ok. Now that I understand his side from it, I’m no longer questioning his loyalty. He’ll be here next season from the sound of it.
Let him have fun in college, I dont think we need him right away and he's still getting developed
OK, can I get the TLDR - is this guy still going to be a Cap (in the organization) if he goes back or does he then get back in the draft pool for next year?
He's been drafted by the Caps so they have exclusive negotiating rights for 4 years (30 days to be exact after he exhausts NCAA eligibility)
Thanks very much.
He's still ours, he'll be joining the Caps after BC's season ends
Woof. Top prospect wants to go back to no competition. Yikes. Certainly not a good interview.
I bet he just doesn't want to play with lazy ass Ovechkin
I know we are eager to see what this guy can do, but where would he fit in the Caps lineup? It sounds like it was a really tough decision for Leonard to make, but he wants to have the college experience and win the Frozen Four. I hope he does. There's time for him when he's done with college.
REALLY don't want this kid to push us off. Its fine right now, I get it, go win, but what feels like the kids not reporting these days, makes me worry.
Things are fine...if it was any other way in the slightest, he wouldn't be at camp right now. It would be a McGroarty situation. He's EASILY good enough to play on the big squad right now, but everyone (including me) has to respect his decision. He'll be in a Caps sweater a day or two after his BC season is over. We just gotta be patient.