Capitals prospect Ryan Leonard made a splash at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship as he captained Team USA to back-to-back gold medals. In his second year at World Juniors, Leonard earned tournament MVP with 10 points (5g, 5a) in seven games and put up a rough-and-tumble performance that saw him break his nose and revel in the ire of rival fans.
For plenty of Caps fans watching, Leonard’s high-scoring, high-physicality style of play has felt reminiscent of future teammate Tom Wilson, who has made a name for himself in the NHL by getting on the scoresheet and under opponents’ skin in equal measure. After watching Leonard’s play at this year’s tournament, Wilson is even more thrilled for his imminent arrival in Washington.
“I think he plays the game hard and he’s got that gamer in him that he’s not going to back down and he has the ability to push teams into the fight and lead the way that way,” Wilson told RMNB. “I think the foundation that he has for the way he plays the game is great and then his skill and his hockey IQ and all that is just going to get better and better. I’m excited for when he puts the Caps jersey on. It’ll be fun to play with a guy like that.”
When he wasn’t putting up points, Leonard had no problem playing hee, playing up his role as a villain for Canadian fans when asked if he was the most hated man in Ottawa.
“It’s great, honestly,” he told FloHockey, later adding, “You hear the boos and it just kind of made me smile, honestly. It’s cool to be hated.”
Wilson congratulated Leonard after Team USA beat Finland in the gold-medal game Sunday, though the post-victory festivities kept their conversation short.
“I talked to Leonard just briefly,” Wilson said. “I think he was a little busy, but just said good job and congrats. Winning is a good thing — it’s a good experience for them and I’m sure they had a fun week.”
The Capitals attempted to sign Leonard last April after his freshman year at Boston College, but Leonard opted to stay in school for another year, citing another chance to participate in World Juniors as one reason he delayed going pro. With Leonard expected to sign once his NCAA season ends this spring, the Capitals could see him make his NHL debut in a matter of months.
Wilson also highlighted the Capitals’ other prospects in the tournament, who had excellent showings in their own right. 2024 second round pick Cole Hutson, making his World Juniors debut, played a vital role in Team USA’s win and became the first defenseman to lead the tournament in scoring with 11 points (3g, 7a) in seven games.
And though he didn’t have a medal to show for it, Eriks Mateiko sealed Latvia’s third and fourth-ever wins at World Juniors. After netting the game-winning shootout goal in a major upset against Canada, Mateiko scored two goals — including the game winner — in a win over Germany. He ended the tournament with five goals in five games.
Between players from Team USA going for glory and players on less competitive teams thriving as the underdog, Wilson saw a bright future for the Captials’ prospects.
“I watched a little bit of the final game and obviously all the highlights online and social media and stuff,” Wilson said. “It looked like [Team USA] had a really good run and obviously pretty cool for Leonard to have the C. It looked like Hutson had a pretty good tournament and a couple other guys on countries with a little less firepower like Latvia and Mateiko and stuff.
“So it looked like a lot of the Caps guys that were in the tournament all showed up to play and it’s exciting to see the next wave of young guys coming up and playing really well.”
