Ryan McLeod played left wing and centre in junior. When he played on the wing his older brother Micheal was his centreman. The younger McLeod has spent most of his time in the NHL at centre, but for the past few weeks he’s played left with Leon Draisaitl and Warren Foegele and he’s thriving with five goals and eight points in six games.

One noticeable change in McLeod’s game recently has been how often he’s been around the net and finding shots from the inner slot. “I think when it’s not going your way you are always searching for something,” said McLeod. “I think all you do is try to dumb it down and get to the hard areas. You look at most of the goals in the NHL getting scored, most are from around the net. I just gotta get to those areas, and they’re going in for me now.”

McLeod had nine inner slot shots in his first 28 games and had one goal on those nine shots. He has four inner slot shots in his past seven games, and four of his five goals have come from there. He is taking more shots overall as well. Kris Knoblauch mentioned how last game, McLeod took a sharp angle shot from the corner, when he thought the goalie was cheating. “He wasn’t trying those plays earlier this season,” said Knoblauch.

Going to the net is a phrase we hear often, mainly because it works. However, it is easier said than done. And it isn’t just about going to the net — you need to think when you get there.

“I’ve been finding that sometimes I’m spending my shift just in front of the net, which is good to have a guy there, but it’s not always the most effective thing because an opponent can just tie you up,” said McLeod. “You kind of have to get lost in front of the net. You got to move around, find different holes, find tendencies of where guys like to pass the puck to, and where they like to get open. I’ve been trying to watch clips and see how I can lose the D-man and get back to the front of the net in an effective way where I have a little more time with the puck.”

Confidence always is a factor, as we’ve seen McLeod hang on to the puck, slide around defenders and score some nice goals lately, and getting advice from Draisaitl has also helped. “Being elevated in the lineup you have more responsibility to help out on the offensive side,” said Mcleod “So his message to us is make plays, be confident with the puck, remember we’re good players. We’ve been trying to do that so hopefully it works, and we don’t have too many turnovers (laughs).”

Turnovers haven’t been a problem. Since they’ve been a line the McLeod-Draisaitl-Foegele trio have outscored opponents 9-3 at 5×5. Overall McLeod has outscored opponent 12-3 at 5×5. He hasn’t been sacrificing defence for offence, and if he returns to being the third line centre in the future, McLeod wants to maintain the mindset Draisaitl has encouraged him to play with: make plays. “That’s a big thing for me,” said McLeod. “Building that confidence, so when I’m slotted somewhere else or if it gets shaken up, I’m not going to change my game at all. I’m confident with how it’s going right now, and I need to play that way regardless of who I play with.”

Again, that is easier said than done, because so much of the game is mental, and reminding yourself to make plays. Many bottom six forwards carry the mindset to get pucks deep, and not get scored on. But great teams have bottom six forwards who contribute offensively regularly. McLeod and Foegele are doing that now, and while I don’t expect them to score eight and nine points at 5×5 respectively every six games, like they are now, McLeod has shown that he has the ability to contribute and produce offence.

WORKING ON SCORING SKILLS…