Ryan Leonard could be a star for the Caps. Just watch him at Boston College.

“No,” he said, when asked about the timing of the injury. “Last Friday.” Which meant he’d been playing for the better part of three games with a broken finger — and has racked up two goals and two assists in that span. Three days later, Leonard’s stat line jumped to three goals and four assists in four games with the injury after a three-point night in the Beanpot consolation game against Harvard.

Hockey players are known for playing through injuries, but it’s nonetheless fitting that Leonard, noted for his physicality, competitive drive and sheer force of will when the Capitals drafted him at No. 8 overall in 2023, hasn’t let his finger be a hindrance.

Leonard’s Eagles are the No. 1 team in the country with just a month remaining in the regular season, so the 19-year-old freshman has much bigger things on his mind than a simple injury.

“We’ve always said that No. 1 doesn’t really mean anything right now,” Leonard said. “We want to be number one at the end of the year. Being No. 1 right now, we’re putting ourselves in a good spot for the end of the year and our [NCAA tournament] bracket, but it’s kind of just all noise, honestly. We’re just trying to prove ourselves and make sure that we’re the best team in the country.”

Leonard grew up in Amherst, Mass., and always planned to play college hockey. But he shunned the family tradition — his brother, John, played three years at U-Mass. and is now with Tucson in the American Hockey League — and headed 90 miles east to Boston College.

“I kind of had to give [U-Mass.] as much of a chance as I could,” Leonard said in June. “But Boston was always my dream. It was just what school felt like home.”

He found his home in Chestnut Hill, on a campus lined with gray stone buildings that match the color of the cloudy winter sky. Leonard finished high school at the U.S. National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Mich., where he and his teammates — including Boston College linemates Will Smith and Gabe Perreault — took their classes online.

Having the full college experience, both on and off the ice, was a motivating factor in Leonard’s choice, and it’s lived up to his expectations so far.

“I like it a lot better, just human interaction and meeting everybody,” he said. “It’s cool to see other people and they say good luck on game days. It’s pretty fun and honoring. It’s cool to have friends or other friends outside of the hockey world.”

In the fall, Leonard and several teammates took a freshman seminar that BC says is designed to “confront students with the most fundamental formational questions that will guide their years at Boston College and beyond.”

“It’s just stuff that’s kind of valuable in the world,” Leonard said. “We’d watch movies and write stories about it, how you can relate it to your life. … We did mentorship papers, so that was pretty cool, just to talk to other people and try to learn things that you can use in the outside world.”

It took Leonard less than five minutes to make his presence known against New Hampshire.

On his first shift of the game, Leonard received the puck in the neutral zone and wove through several defenders to create an entry into the offensive zone with his skating and puck skill. Seconds later, he drew a cross-checking penalty, and Boston College scored on the ensuing power play. When the Eagles went back on the power play less than two minutes later, Leonard needed just 16 seconds to score his 15th goal of the season.

“I’ve watched him for years. He’s a very good player,” UNH Coach Mike Souza said after the game. “I love him because he’s competitive — so competitive. You talk to guys at the next level, that’s what separates guys or gets guys there.”

Think about that: an opposing player left such an impression on a coach that, after a 6-1 loss, that coach used the word “love” when asked about him. That’s the kind of mark Leonard’s game leaves, and what could make him an instant fan favorite when he arrives in Washington.

“I think it’s been a great season for him,” Capitals assistant general manager Chris Patrick said. “Obviously, team’s doing well, and he’s having personal success, as well. Kind of what you hope for when you pick a guy high like that, that he’s hitting all his goals and continuing to get better. [He’s] off to a good start.”

Boston College Coach Greg Brown needs little prompting to rave about what Leonard has brought to the Eagles this year. An NHL-caliber shot is his standout attribute, and his 16 goals are tied for second-most in the country this year by a freshman, but his impact for BC goes well beyond putting the puck in the net. With 36 total points, he’s tied for 11th in the nation.

“He’s developed very well. He’s been getting chances the entire season. They weren’t going in early on, but then he started to really find his rhythm offensively, contributing on the scoresheet,” Brown said. “But he also does so many other things. He plays a physical game, a heavy game. Great on the forecheck. When we use him on the penalty kill, he does a great job. He’s got a lot of facets to his game other than just scoring goals. He’s been extremely valuable for us.”

Listed by Boston College as 6 feet and 192 pounds, from a physical standpoint, Leonard could step into the NHL this year without missing a beat. But look no further than his BC teammate, Cutter Gauthier — the No. 5 pick in the 2022 draft — for proof of what a second year in college can do for a player. While Leonard, Smith and Perreault form the highest-scoring line in the country, Gauthier is tied for first in the nation with 23 goals in 27 games and was far and away the best player on the ice against New Hampshire.

And after spending much of his life dreaming of playing college hockey, Leonard isn’t in a rush to make a life-changing decision. His focus right now is on the Hockey East tournament, then the NCAA tournament. What comes after that isn’t at the forefront of his mind.

“I think there’s always room to grow,” Leonard said. “College is such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I don’t really want to rush.”