None of Washington's first-year players cracked the league's freshman all-star squad for 2025-26, but the team was hardly overlooked once the ballots arrived.
Across their various positions, support in the balloting landed for Justin Sourdif, Cole Hutson, and Ryan Leonard. Not since John Carlson grabbed a pair of defense spots' worth of recognition on the comparable 2010-11 group — taking one of the two blue-line slots — had a Caps freshman drawn such backing.
Out front was Leonard with 19 tallies, trailed by Sourdif's 7, and Hutson collected just one.
How the freshman all-star balloting shook out
Screenshot: NHL.com
Among every rookie, Leonard came in fifth for scoring, compiling over 75 games a 45-point line on 20 goals and 25 assists. He became merely the eighth freshman in club history to reach the 20-goal plateau in a year, the first to do it since Ovechkin in his 2005-06 debut. That 45-point total sits 10th on the franchise's all-time single-season chart for first-year skaters. Dating to 1982-83, only a pair of Washington rookies have bettered the mark: Ovechkin, who hit 106, and Backstrom, with 69.
Sourdif wound up even with the eighth spot among freshman scorers, posting across 78 outings a 35-point line split between 15 goals and 20 helpers. The 24-year-old opened the year out on the wing with the bottom unit before wrapping it up among the club's steadier pivots. With him deployed at even strength, the club outscored foes 47 to 28, good for a 62.7 percent goals-for figure that placed second among teammates.
Just 19, Hutson is a surprise inclusion on the ballot, having dressed for a mere 14 contests in Washington once he put pen to an entry-level pact in March. Yet that brief stint left a mark, as he chipped in over those 14 appearances 10 points on three goals plus seven assists while logging 17:27 a night. Beginning with his March 18 debut, a lone rookie leaguewide outpaced his scoring: St. Louis forward Jimmy Snuggerud, who got to 16.
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The freshman all-star selections for 2025-26
Up front, the honorees were Ivan Demidov of Montreal, Anaheim's Beckett Sennecke, and Jimmy Snuggerud out of St. Louis. On the back end stood Matthew Schaefer, an Islander, alongside Carolina's Alexander Nikishin. Between the pipes, the nod went to Montreal netminder Jakub Dobes.
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