Anyone who tells you Leonard is a bad passer is undeniably wrong. This is what I wrote before the u18s: "He’s an excellent puck getter, adept as a transporter, with 1v1 power moves (the forehand shimmy shake drive or pull to his backhand). [...] More often than not in my viewings, when he had to make a skilled pass with a defender in a lane, it didn’t work. But his passing has actually grown on me in a play connector way: quick touches on exits, slinging it in the cycle. He’s not panicky."
I also think (this is meant towards David St-Louis) that 1 minute of 8 passes doesn't make a case either, and many of those were drop passes or hitting the open trailer or give-n-go's, and they were almost all off the rush. Half of those I saw in-game. You can clip a handful of plays of any prospect doing anything, but I think the game footage tells a different tale, especially with volume shooting as a crutch. I don't find his chance assist frequency or his success rate standout, or his touch. I really believe it was not just because of role -- I caught a dozen games or so. He's a functional passer (they can make nice passes too!), even in volume, more than a playmaker, who can play off more skilled players. He can help connect the game for top end guys. I think that's an important distinction. He's not generally making royal road passes, or dragging guys in on the walls, or manipulating advanced angles, but he's the guy who can be involved in those sequences. Again, he's not panicky; we're just talking degree of difficulty on his touches.
Leonard does a lot well. Hence me having him in the 8-11 range. But he touches a lot of areas that GMs salivate over, and I think things are getting daydreamy because of that, with the top 5 talk. He's not some secret plus passer or oozing top line creativity (I pretty much described his bag of tricks above), and it's not because he played with Smith/Perreault. I've seen him with Moore too for shifts or the odd game. Truly, he's maybe the easiest player to scout in the draft after the top 2. Maybe that's why I'm confused. He'll drive possession while being an o-zone support piece up and down the lineup. But I simply cannot believe in his offensive ceiling being comparable to Benson, Moore, etc. I think a good mental test is: could you put an average middle 6 player with Gauthier+Leonard, and that's a Cup caliber top line or a 2nd line? I'm very skeptical.
