2023 NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Ryan Leonard

Boston College Men’s Hockey’s absolutely stacked draft class continues with forward Ryan Leonard. Leonard is a member of the National Team Development Program’s top line, playing the wing with Gabe Perreault and center Will Smith. The three combined to put up video game numbers with the NTDP, and all three are projected to be first round picks.

Ryan Leonard’s long been eyed as an elite offensive talent, and he’s only gotten better over the last couple years. In the 2021-2022 season, he put up a 10-5—15 line in 33 games for the NTDP before blowing up this past year for even more points (11 goals and 9 assists for 20 points in 17 contests) in roughly half the games. He put up a whopping 17 points in 7 games in the IIHF U18 Men’s World Championships, and scored the overtime goal to give USA the gold.

It will not come as a shock, then, that Leonard is projected to be a high first round pick, and it would be a bit of a shocker if he dropped out of the single digits. He and linemate Will Smith are neck and neck in that 4th- to 10th-pick range. Expect Leonard to make an impact early on for the Eagles — and hopefully he’s picked up by a team who will give him some time to develop further in college.