Spencer Carbery\u2019s one-on-one tutelage of the Washington Capitals\u2019 top prospect, Ryan Leonard, has become one of the biggest stories at this year\u2019s training camp.<\/p>\n
Carbery urged this past weekend that he did not want Leonard to measure his game by goals and assists<\/a>, as he believes the 20-year-old forward could be putting too much pressure on himself to produce too early in his career. Leonard then scored a highlight-reel goal against the New Jersey Devils the next day<\/a> and told reporters he felt much better after his second career NHL preseason game.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s huge,\u201d Leonard said on Monday. \u201cLike I said yesterday, any time you see the puck going in the back of the net, it\u2019s a huge confidence boost, especially when you\u2019re beating an NHL goalie. I knew it was going to go in at some point, but it was good to get it in preseason and just trust myself a little bit more. And then the shootout was a plus too.\u201d<\/p>\n Leonard\u2019s response to his breakout performance was then relayed to Carbery during the head coach\u2019s own media session. While Carbery concurred that Leonard had a better overall game in his second exhibition matchup, he approached the offensive success with more tempered expectations for the former eighth-overall draft selection.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I would agree with [him having a better game],\u201d Carbery said, noticeably cracking a wry smile. \u201cI mean, I know what he\u2019s measuring when he says that. He shot one into the white netting twice, once in the shootout and once off the rush, and it was an incredible play, a highlight-reel goal. Shootout was a great move. So those are positives.<\/p>\n \u201cAny time you want to produce offensively and you accomplish that, you\u2019re going to feel good,\u201d he later added. \u201cHe\u2019s starting his career, and that\u2019s his first goal, essentially, other than an empty netter. In the back of your mind, [you\u2019re] like, \u2018Geez, what happened to my goal scoring? I usually can beat goaltenders.\u2019 So, it\u2019s good for him. But I\u2019ll keep going back all year long \u2013 that\u2019s not how I will measure Ryan Leonard\u2019s game; his success or failures will not be whether he finishes on scoring chances.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, Carbery felt like his team was not at its best against the Devils, spending far too much time in their own zone as the \u201cwheels fell off\u201d during the back half of the game. While he noted that New Jersey iced a very strong lineup, including Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier, he wasn\u2019t a fan of how his players took care of the puck.<\/p>\n Carbery did not single Leonard out above any of the other Capitals who played in the 3-2 shootout win, but did emphasize that making better decisions with the puck is one of the primary objectives that Leonard needs to have in his mind \u2014 game in and game out. And he needs to focus more on that than on lighting the lamp.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat does Ryan Leonard need to do well to be successful in a 60-minute game?\u201d Carbery said. \u201cHe\u2019s got to be really good with the puck at determining when he can make a play and when it\u2019s time to make a smart, intelligent, hard play. What\u2019s the difference there? When he\u2019s in a scoring situation like he was last night, even if he turned that over when he went through that defenseman, that\u2019s a great opportunity, open space, to attack that defender.<\/p>\n \u201cThen there\u2019s some other spots where you\u2019ve got to be really careful with the puck at your defensive blue line. If I get a puck there, totally different scenario. That puck has to get to a good spot. If it doesn\u2019t, it\u2019s probably going to end up in a scoring chance against.\u201d<\/p>\n To Leonard\u2019s credit, he and his line were regularly matched up with Hischier or Hughes at five-on-five in the win and produced relatively even results. During Leonard\u2019s ice time, the Capitals saw just slight negative differentials in shot attempts (-4), scoring chances (-1), and high-danger chances (-1). Leonard also scored the only goal during those minutes.<\/p>\n Carbery has a willing student as Leonard is well aware that he\u2019ll be successful if he takes advice from his bench boss.<\/p>\n \u201cTrust him with whatever he\u2019s saying out there,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cObviously, Coach of the Year last year, so that\u2019s not for no mistake. He knows what he\u2019s talking about, so all I really got to do is listen to him and just go out there and play.\u201d<\/p>\n As for what else specifically Carbery would like to see from Leonard this year, he excitedly spoke about little parts inside the game that fans might not notice.<\/p>\n \u201cI look at his ability to get to the inside, play at the net front, win forecheck battles,\u201d Carbery said. \u201cThat\u2019s the offensive part. How is he doing there? Is he winning pucks? Also, his wall play, really important and critical for wingers. Last night, he has three different touches on the wall where he has to find his way out. Sometimes it\u2019s just a chip off the glass. Sometimes it\u2019s a play.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s habits that go into being a successful winger. How\u2019s his shoulder checks? Is he doing a good job with reading where pressure\u2019s coming from? All that little stuff that looks easy when you watch it on TV or watch a game live, but that stuff takes hours and hours of work and ingraining good habits into your game.\u201d<\/p>\n Carbery also elaborated on his previous comments about Leonard\u2019s development curve likely being more unique than that of other players drafted around him in the first round, due to his preferred playing style.<\/p>\n \u201cPlaying on the inside, it\u2019s challenging for young players because you\u2019re usually physically overmatched, and along with that comes failure,\u201d Carbery said. \u201cWhat I mean by that is you\u2019re probably going to lose some of those one-on-one situations, but you have to be willing to go there. Even though he\u2019s probably going to get overpowered from time to time, that\u2019s okay. He\u2019ll develop, grow, mature, and get stronger.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s one of the biggest things for a young player that\u2019s not starting in the American League (AHL). He\u2019s going to want it to happen right now. That\u2019s natural for any player, but especially a young player that\u2019s been very, very successful and has a ton of potential. Yet, you have to be patient and understand you\u2019re going to make mistakes. And it\u2019s all about digesting that.\u201d<\/p>\n Leonard, who scored 30 goals in back-to-back seasons for Boston College, is known to play a hard-nosed game, throwing his weight around in all three zones. Just as Carbery alluded to, Leonard admits that he has struggled to impact games in the same way he did against peers of his age.<\/p>\n \u201cDefensemen are a lot bigger and stronger, so it\u2019s tougher to get the puck from them,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cI\u2019m big, but I\u2019m not as big as a normal power forward, probably like Tom (Wilson), but trying to get different ways to get the puck around the defenseman and strip them when you get a chance in our offensive zone. So again, it\u2019s a learning curve, but it\u2019s definitely something that I want to just keep improving on.\u201d<\/p>\n The Capitals have three more preseason games remaining, starting with a visit to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Leonard, who is waivers-exempt, will likely factor into at least two of those games, and skated with the main group at practice on Monday.<\/p>\n NHL teams must set their 23-man opening-day rosters by 5 pm ET on October 7. The Capitals open their regular season at home against the Boston Bruins on October 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spencer Carbery\u2019s one-on-one tutelage of the Washington Capitals\u2019 top prospect, Ryan Leonard, has become one of the biggest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-194063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}