Capitals GM provides Ryan Leonard contract update

The Washington Capitals are in contract negotiations with Ryan Leonard, and the team is hoping that they can get a deal done before he becomes a restricted free agent after this season. Leonard is in the final year of his entry-level contract, and the Capitals want to make sure he’s still one of the key pieces of their team.

General manager Chris Patrick spoke about having those talks with Leonard and what they’re hoping to accomplish.

“Yeah, we’ve had some discussions this summer,” Patrick said via Tom Gulitti of 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 is uncertain if they’ll be able to get a deal done before the season starts, but it seems like that may be the goal.

“I don’t know now,” Patrick said. “If it made sense, I’d do it tomorrow. We just have to get to that point.”

The team is also in talks with Justin Sourdif, who is also a restricted free agent.

“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.”