The Washington Capitals are looking are to extend pending restricted free agent Ryan Leonard this off-season to avoid the risk of a potential offer sheet next year.
The 21-year-old winger is coming off posting 20 goals and 45 points in 75 games during a successful rookie season with the Capitals. The eighth-overall pick in the 2023 draft, Leonard joined the Capitals out of Boston College at the end of the 2024-25 season, burning the first year of his entry-level deal.
“Yeah, we’ve had some discussions this summer,” Capitals general manager Chris Patrick said Tuesday, per NHL.com. “I’m hopeful we can continue to have some discussions here. That’s not something that I want to let play out. I’d rather get something done if we can, if it makes sense for both sides because I do think what happened this past summer is definitely potentially a harbinger of things to come in the league.
“So, I’d like to have something done sooner than later with him if it works for their side.”
Patrick appeared to be referencing the two offer sheets signed this summer. Most notably, the massive five-year, $90 million offer sheet the Philadelphia Flyers signed Leo Carlsson to in July before the Anaheim Ducks eventually matched. The New Jersey Devils also inked forward Barrett Hayton to a one-year, $4.775 million offer sheet that the Utah Mammoth matched.
The Capitals general manager revealed he has also opened contract talks with forward Justin Sourdif in hopes of keeping his team from becoming vulnerable to any potential offer sheet.
“I think my M.O. going forward really is if you have guys that are going to be restricted free agents that could potentially get offer sheets, you want to get in front of it as much as you can, as much as you feel comfortable doing that,” Patrick said. “So, with Justin, we’ve had some conversations as well and we’ll see where it goes.
“We’ll just have to see how things play out with both those guys.”
Sourdif posted 15 goals and 35 points in 78 games with the Capitals last season after being acquired in the off-season from the Florida Panthers for second- and sixth-round draft picks.
The 24-year-old native of Richmond, B.C. appeared in just four NHL games with the Panthers prior to the trade after being selected in the third round of the 2020 draft.
Leonard and Sourdif are key young pieces on a Capitals roster that has undergone significant change this summer.
After missing the playoffs this spring, Patrick added forwards Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou and Boone Jenner in hopes of turning the team back into a contender. Alex Ovechkin re-signed for a 22nd season with the franchise last month, with both sides hoping for a storybook ending with a second Stanley Cup title together.
Ovechkin is one of just three pending unrestricted free agents on Washington’s roster. The team has $19.25 in projected cap space for the 2027-28 season with 19 players under contract, per PuckPedia.
