The Washington Capitals are adjusting to life without key rookie Ryan Leonard after the forward was knocked out of the lineup on a questionable hit by Anaheim Ducks' Jacob Trouba on December 5.
Leonard, who has only missed one game amid a light schedule for the Caps, will be out 3-4 weeks with a shoulder injury, head coach Spencer Carbery confirmed.
“He'll be out for the foreseeable future with the shoulder, and he sustained some facial injuries as well,” the bench boss told reporters. “Like I said yesterday, it's not an ideal scenario, but could've been worse. He'll be back before you know it.”
Leonard is in his first full NHL season after making his debut in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 20-year-old has been productive in 2025-26, amassing seven goals and 18 points in 29 games.
That has him seventh in team scoring, behind Tom Wilson, Alex Ovechkin, Jakob Chychrun, John Carlson, Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas.
The eighth overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft was just starting to heat up before the injury; he recorded the first four-point game of his career in a 7-1 drubbing of the San Jose Sharks on December 3, which was part of a four-game point streak for the youngster.
Capitals surging despite injuries
Losing Leonard for any length of time is disappointing, but Washington has continued to pile up wins without him and a few other key players.
Carlson has also missed each of the Capitals' last three games after suffering an upper-body injury. Carbery told reporters that the veteran blue liner is “trending in the right direction,” and he could be an option as soon as Thursday night's tilt with the division rival Carolina Hurricanes.
The 35-year-old's return will be a huge boost; Carlson has six goals and 23 points in 26 games and is second on the team in average time on ice per game at 22:52.
Despite the injury bug, the Caps have been arguably the NHL's best team over the last month, winning 10 of their last 12 games dating back to November 17.
That heater has the club up to 18-9-3, which is good for first place in the Eastern Conference and third overall in league standings. It's been a huge turnaround for a squad that was .500 at 8-8-2 in the middle of last month.
They'll look to continue creating separation in the Metropolitan Division on Thursday against a Hurricanes team that is just a point back — with a game in hand. Carolina is 18-9-2.
Charlie Lindgren also continues to progress from an upper-body injury, Carbery said; he remains out of the lineup and hasn't played since December 3.
Logan Thompson continues to see the bulk of work between the pipes, and he's been terrific again this year, most recently shutting out the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 2-0 final on Sunday night.
After three full days off, the work continues at Capital One Arena on Thursday; puck drops between Washington and Carolina just past 7:00 p.m. ET.
