Leonard joins the capitals during the pursuit of Ovechkin of the “dream of Gretzky who became reality”

BOSTON – Ryan Leonard was in the locker room of the Boston College, a few moments to sign with the capital of Washington, when an SMS appeared on his phone.

It was Alex Ovechkin.

“I read it in the locker room, all the guys were in there,” said Leonard at TD Garden on Tuesday after his first morning skate in the NHL. “It was probably 5.10 minutes before signing. They are like:” What? I don’t know if you should answer this. “I said to myself:” I have to somehow. But it was pretty cool. “

It was a whirlwind of a few days that found the 20 -year -old who was heading to obtain sushi with Ovechkin and a few other new teammates, while he was preparing to jump in the NHL with the capital, who are in the middle of the Stanley Cup pursuit and the objectives of all time of the presidents.

Ovechkin has 890, four by linking Gretzky and five of his bat.

“Just to go dinner with these guys and meet all these guys, really trying to kiss the moment, to spend quality time with these guys,” said Leonard. “Not much time, you can dine with one of the grown -ups, so just trying to kiss her.”

Lesson after 24 hours after Leonard signed his entry -level contract, a three -year agreement with an average annual value of $ 950,000, and less than 48 hours of the Boston College losing in Denver in the NCAA regional final on Sunday, bringing out the Eagles before the four frosts, Leonard has already broken the bread with its new teammates and is to do its debut against the Boston Boston and;

“It was a dream come true, to meet all the guys and really wait tonight,” said Leonard, who was selected by Washington with the choice n ° 8 at the NNH 2023 draft.

Not only was Leonard to make his debut as an initial of the first six on a pretender superior to the Stanley Cup, but he had to make his debut in a familiar skating rink, a place where he supported for the Beanpot tournament at Boston College, in his original state of Massachusetts. Enough friends and family headed for TD Garden for the game that he could not understand the number, including all his teammates from British Columbia.

“I just went out for a morning skate and think about being here in British Columbia, then turning the page and being pro,” said Leonard. “It’s pretty weird to think, but it’s pretty cool.”

During the morning of the morning, he and Ovechkin exchanged sticks for a while. Ovechkin, however, was not satisfied with what he felt. As he said, “he’s too Whippy. He is 80 years old (Flex).”

But he had advice for his new teammate.