Technically he already set a career high in goals and points. Just in more games played but fewer minutes per game than he played last year. By more than two minutes per game. And there was a pretty long stretch where he was just playing with zero confidence.
Right now he's getting timely points by executing a fair bit more than he was during his slump but I don't think he's quite reached a level yet where he's driving play like a true 1c. It's more like quick strike chances created coming in off the rush for the most part. I think there's still a lot of room for him to grow into the role to create chances under pressure in 5 on 5 situations but he needs to add strength/bulk and slow down his decision making at times. Not to say he needs to overthink his passes but he does what a lot of guys on this team do, he sees some orange and just throws it in the general direction without taking half a second to judge whether the lane can be cut off by the defense. Successful 1cs in this league not named MacKinnon need to be able to navigate the offensive zone and either make space for themselves to generate chances to make plays on or get shots off, Leo isn't really there yet and I'm not sure Cronin and the coaching staff are teaching him how to do it effectively. It should progress if he adds strength and mass but I'm nervous about the "offense comes naturally" philosophy. The kid needs some degree of guidance of how to play the 1c role he's clearly being groomed for.
