Ryan Leonard officially arrived on Monday when the Washington Capitals signed their top prospect to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Now comes the hard part for head coach Spencer Carbery. The second-year bench boss will need to take a player out of his Eastern Conference-leading lineup to fit Leonard in for his NHL debut and further games this year.
The Capitals have been running relatively the same four forward lines since acquiring Anthony Beauvillier from the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline. From March 9 when Beauvillier first debuted, the same 12 forwards have played in all 10 games.
Lines from 3/30 against Sabres
The most like-for-like swap for Leonard would be third-line right wing Taylor Raddysh. The two players are both right-shot wingers, and Raddysh is currently filling a role that Leonard would be most suited for. He is not in the top-six forward group and does not kill penalties, unlike someone like Brandon Duhaime.
Leonard’s primary asset is his goal-scoring ability, and Raddysh has just seven goals this season. The 27-year-old wing is tied with Jakub Vrana for the 11th most goals on the team, and Vrana played just 26 games for the Caps this season. He has just three goals in his last 49 appearances.
Raddysh also plays the bumper spot on the second unit of the Capitals’ power play. Leonard could provide a much more dangerous option in that spot for the Caps with his quick release and super hard shot. The Caps have been struggling on the power play, scoring just one power-play goal in their last 11 games.
Carbery could also choose to sit Beauvillier and reunite Raddysh with Duhaime and Nic Dowd on the team’s fourth line. Earlier in the season, Raddysh was a near-constant on the right side of the team’s energy trio, playing 297:03 of five-on-five ice time together. Beauvillier is the lone current Caps regular playing less time-on-ice per game (12:20) than Raddysh (12:25).
Andrew Mangiapane may be another option, as the 28-year-old forward (1.47) ranks below both Raddysh (1.83) and Beauvillier (2.47) in total points per 60 minutes at five-on-five. Mangiapane could come out of the lineup, and Beauvillier could flip to his natural left wing to fill the lineup back out.
Carbery has kept a close eye on Leonard’s development this season, so he likely has a good idea of where to deploy the franchise’s prized prospect. General manager Chris Patrick also had already factored in Leonard’s cap hit when making the club’s trade-deadline plans.
The Capitals have some time to see where Leonard fits best as the team has nine games remaining on their regular-season schedule. He’ll also have little to no pressure as he gets his feet under him in the NHL. The Caps already clinched home-ice in the playoffs and have a nine-point lead on the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division.
