The last few days have been quite the adventure for Washington Capitals prospects Ryan Leonard and Ryan Chesley, as they are still settling in back home following the World Junior championship. Both players represented Team USA and played huge roles in the team’s run to the Gold Medal.
2024 World Junior Tournament Summaries For Capitals Prospects Ryan Leonard and Ryan Chesley
“It was a really special moment. Overall being with that team, and obviously winning that gold medal,” Chesley said in a Zoom press conference. “We had such a good group of guys and playing with such high-level players is really good, so much fun.”
It was an experience that neither of them will take for granted and a huge step into their development as future NHL players. But now their focus turns to contributing to each of their respective programs at the college ranks.
Leonard is having a terrific rookie season at Boston College and the Eagles are ranked No. 1 in the nation. He has 18 points (10 goals, eight assists) in 17 games and had a nine-game point streak, which led him being named the Hockey East Rookie of the Month for November.
On the other hand, Chesley, Washington’s second round pick in 2022, has embraced his increased role as a top-four defenseman at Minnesota and slowly started to find his offensive touch towards the end of the first half. The sophomore blueliner has six points (two goals, four assists) in 20 games with the Golden Gophers.
“I think my game has matured and developed in a lot of different ways. I think offensively my skills have grown a lot. [I have] more confidence in that area of the game,” Chesley said. “And my all around defensive game has grown too. Gotten bigger, stronger. So I think I’ve gotten better and bigger in a lot of different ways.”
Both teams have tough schedules ahead of them to begin 2024. The second half consists of conference only play and each series is filled with intense action. Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the building gets even louder, which is something that both Leonard and Chesley embraced overseas.
“I just think kind of the overall just the atmosphere like over every single game we had, we weren’t technically the “home team” or had the most fans there for us,” Leonard said. “So I think just playing in an away rink for the majority of the tournament and just kind of having the opposing fans on the other side of you, cheering against you, it’ll help us down any team, any college hockey team of students sections and all their chants and all that.”
The question that is on all Capitals fans minds surrounding Washington’s eighth-overall pick is when he is going to come to D.C., and put on a Capitals uniform. But right now, he is only focused on what lies ahead for BC.
“It’s always in the back of your head when you’re going to turn pro and kind of when you’re going to take that next step. But honestly, right now I’m worried about Providence Friday night,” Leonard said. “That’s kind of the last of my worries. And the NHL is always going to be there, but I think college is just a once in a lifetime opportunity. So you never want to rush out of there and I kind of just want to soak it all in and see what we can make happen here.”
Leonard and Chesley are expected to carry the momentum from their championship run into the second half of the college hockey season and lead their team to deep playoff runs come mid-March.
“It was a really special moment – overall being with that team and obviously winning that gold medal. We had such a good group of guys.”
Prospects Ryan Chesley and Ryan Leonard speak with the media over Zoom fresh off helping @usahockey to #WorldJuniors Gold in Sweden.#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/PzpHuCuBtv
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 9, 2024
By Jacob Cheris
I really like Ryan L and he will need another 2 years before joining the Caps. Ill never understand why the Coyotes didnt trade down in the draft… We would have MM but perhaps we will have a great RW for many years…..
RL is the real deal.
Feel a coaching change coming on: BUF
Getting crushed game after game. Superstar player “Personal Reasons” gone several days. SEA is Caps next opponent, took advantage of demoralized Sabres tonight
And recall right after Xmas, Caps lost 5-1 stinkers to NYR and NYI and it was a REALLY low point of the season. Well let’s look at a really GOOD NHL team
VAN crushed NYR 6-3 last night, and it’s 4-1 VAN over NYI right now. Back-to-back no less. So it’s POSSIBLE to assemble a really good NHL team in this Bottmann Salary Cap environment. The “good” condition just doesn’t last very long, for anybody
hmmmm, so rebuild year bumber 15 also not going well for Buffalo…or New Jersey and Edmonton still trying after 30 plus years….
Yeah, I prefer the Caps approach
Excellent point (perspective) Horn. Caps were pretty damn good for 10 years, rebuilds happen, and they are by no means easy to deal with as a fan.
Also egregious: CHI Blackhawks. 2020 roster had some excellent young players, enough to “Build around.” But NO! Brilliant post-Wirtz managers said Rebuild NOW. Delivered Dylan Strome to WAS on a silver platter. 77 Kirby Dach is a legitimate young F talent, was on MTL last I looked. He was given away too, along with several others
In short, in the name of “rebuilding,” the new CHI Whiz-kid managers gave themselves permission to commit the heavy-duty Cardinal Sin of giving away competent NHL players for nothing (“letting them walk” the latest term). All the other NHL franchises frantically arrange trades — usually for draft picks — for surplus, serviceable roster players
Now Conor Bedard is injured big-time, and CHI is easily the second-worst team in the NHL. How did they get away with this? MacLellan would have been pilloried for similar behaviors
With the amazing talent levels available with thousands of young hockey players worldwide, radical slash-and-burn rebuilding is a fool’s errand
Why don’t we just draft proven 25 year olds? Why bother to have a pipeline? At some point, you need to evaluate the talent that you drafted and have in the AHL and ECHL and give the ones looking promising a chance to play in the NHL. Callups for injuries is an obvious (unless you are Lavi and callup does not mean any ice time) but if you’re not a top 3 team in your division, devote time and space to evaluating them. Might be productive, might be ugly. But if you don’t experiment, how are you going to know?
Well, those of you that think wining a calder and being the top AHL team means you should have those players in the NHL….well, look at our results this year. CMM, Protas and Beck definitely having solid years, but none looking like sure things top 6 by any stretch. Phillips needs to go down and Lappy needs to stay down and get better, he might need another year….Speed isn’t enough. These AHL players have gotten chances (yeah, I want to see what Frank and Dube), but these players that have been up a good amount this year need to take spots!! This isn’t rec. You’ve been up half a season and aren’t’ on pace for 20 goals….come on, you make it easy to send you back. NHL isn’t a charity league, I don’t care if you are old coach, Trotz or Carb’s – perform because there are is only 1 4th line…
Those of you that wanted the AHL up here, what are you complaining about?? Phillips, Beck, Lappy, Protas, CMM, AA, Aktell, Lucas, goalies and more (Miro) have gotten a taste…and let’s put it this way, I think Max Pacioretty feels he’d have a spot next year in the top 6 if he wanted to come back…
If anything, this lot of AHL’ers have proven to GM that he needs to find more vets/Stromme’s.
Lets not pretend that without vets at Hershey, Scars, Snively, Vecch and others that the Calder or this year happens. So, success at AHL doesn’t mean we have a bunch of top 6 prospects ready. Hopefully in another year or two we do.
Not going to argue that any of our AHLers are superstars. Yet. So let’s trade them away for more Erats. No.
There are some we haven’t seen. And I still feel that the square peg in round hole is applicable. If a player is successful as center in Hershey, why only try him out as wing in DC? Don’t have stats but my gut and memory tell me that our prospects were very successful start of last season when they were up in a bunch. They were used to working together and could better play their game. When later they came up in singles and had to conform to old vet style play, their own play suffered. Chemistry is important. Knowledge of other players is important. Style of play is important. I don’t want to naysay a player based on one callup.
I also don’t want to trade a developing prospect who maybe isn’t quite there for a player who isn’t going to be better next year (or even here). We have done too much of that. Before we start making trades, I want to be sure that we are getting skills we don’t already have. And also give Carbs a chance to find out what works and what doesn’t. He’s developing too. I just don’t feel that we should mortgage the team to try and make a Cup run this year. Doesn’t mean tearing down and rebuilding. I would prefer to think of it as an evaluation year where we take a good comprehensive inventory of what we have (and will have next year) and then see what holes we can fill now for next year. Let’s not rush into trades.
I agree. We don’t need to be trading Forsbergs and Stephensons for more aging players. Teams aren’t giving away solid players under 30 for free.
And its disingenuous cherry picking for certain people to be whining about forever rebuilds in Buffalo and Edmonton, while Colorado, LA, Chicago, and Tampa all won Cups soon after rebuilding. Some people just don’t know much about hockey.
Colorado maybe…12 years to be relevant, Chicago has grace period so we’ll see, but they are awful now, 5 years in. Kings are a good example for you. However, we can add Arizona and Anaheim to our list…rebuilds rarely take less than 10 years.
Don’t know how to do math, do you? Chicago drafted Toews in 2006, 3rd overall, Kane in 2007 1st overall, Cup in 2010. Tampa has had 2 full rebuilds in 25 years, 3 Cups. Caps 1 rebuild in 20 years, 1 Cup. Colorado was 7th in the Central in 2017, Cup in 2022
Try looking up the facts before you spout your stupid and uninformed opinions. Or try actually watching some hockey, for a change.
Leonard sounds like he may stay in college another year (just reading between lines). And that may be just fine for his development. College over AHL for him.
Chesley however, sounds pretty confident and hopefully that triggers a jump to pro and i suspect he’ll embrace playing in Hershey for a year or two. I would love to see him go pro. And please move Jensen so Iorio and Chesley have a path.
Boyz II Men going off
Not too hard, not too soft
…
The East Coast family
😎🤘