{"id":37103,"date":"2018-10-22T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=37103"},"modified":"2018-10-22T11:13:09","modified_gmt":"2018-10-22T15:13:09","slug":"ryan-mcleod-mississauga-steelheads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/10\/22\/ryan-mcleod-mississauga-steelheads\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton Oilers Prospect Ryan McLeod Providing Prowess to Mississauga Steelheads Offense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mississauga, Ontario- Through 12 games with the Mississauga Steelheads, center Ryan McLeod<\/strong><\/a> has become an anchor for the team. One of the top prospects for the Edmonton Oilers<\/a>, McLeod has demonstrated veteran leadership as a star player on the team. He is second in points on the Steelheads with two goals and 11 eleven assists through nine games. On Sunday’s contest against the OHL’s best team the Ottawa 67’s, McLeod scored a power play goal from the slot after a beautiful pass from Owen Tippett<\/a><\/strong>. Creating scoring opportunities on most of McLeod’s shifts is what gets Steelheads coach James Richmond<\/strong> excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a top forward in our league so we\u2019ll play him against other team\u2019s top players,\u201d said Mississauga coach\/general manager Richmond.<\/a> \u201cHe\u2019s good on faceoffs, he has speed and he\u2019s hard on pucks, so he\u2019s hard to play against.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan McLeod’s Dream of Making NHL Fulfilled<\/h2>\n

Ever since he was a young kid, Ryan McLeod always wanted to be a professional hockey player. His breakout season in Triple-A came in 2014-15 with the Toronto Marlboros, where he put up 30 goals and 51 assists. This got him drafted by his hometown Mississauga Steelheads in the OHL Priority Draft.<\/p>\n

What NHL scouts immediately noticed with McLeod was his effortless speed and ability to break out into the attacking zone. His skating ability allows him to create scoring opportunities, utilizing his size and playmaking abilities in the offensive zone. In his draft year, McLeod dazzled scouts where he generated 70 points in 68 games (26 goals, 44 assists).<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t stop competing and he uses his strength to win space and possession of the puck,\u201d stated Aaron Vickers at\u00a0futureconsiderations.ca<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s effective defensively and works hard at both ends. He knows what his responsibilities are and how to fulfill his duties in his own zone. He has upside as a top-six, two-way NHL centre.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 2018\u00a0Entry Draft, the Oilers took the plunge and drafted McLeod in the second round. It was another savvy pick by Edmonton, looking to continue to add depth up the middle. It wasn’t a day after the draft that McLeod was off to Edmonton for the development camp, an experience he believes helped a lot in his transition to eventually becoming an NHL player.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019d rather have it right after draft so all of those nervous or excited feelings, you can get them out right then and know what you\u2019re going into,” McLeod said.<\/a> “I was really happy to go in there, figure out what they want from me and what the rink is like.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLeod Critical Asset for Steelheads<\/h2>\n

Unfortunately for McLeod, the Oilers sent him back to the OHL to continue to develop. But the move has turned into a blessing, particularly for the Mississauga offence, one of the best in the OHL. Not only did McLeod gain more offensive skills but he learned to use his size to become a more effective two-way player.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing back from Edmonton, that was something I wanted to work on; playing against other teams\u2019 top lines and playing down low,\u201d McLeod said.<\/a> \u201cMatching up against the best every night will really help me do that. My game is offensive, but I can shut guys down.\u201d<\/p>\n

This season, he has created many scoring opportunities through his passing, setting up players like Owen Tippett and Cole Carter, who leads the Steelheads in points. Whenever the Steelheads have won, it is likely McLeod has recorded more than one assist. When the Steelheads won 4-3 against the Hamilton Bulldogs, McLeod recorded two assists. It his playmaking ability that the opposition has found difficult to contain. And Steelheads coach James Richmond hopes this continues for the young prospect as the season goes on.<\/p>\n

“He’s a high-end National Hockey League pick for a reason,” stated Richmond after the Steelheads 3-1 loss to the Ottawa 67’s . “He has a ton of speed and skill, which drives our offence every game.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really clicking right now,\u201d McLeod stated.<\/a> \u201cEveryone respects everyone so it\u2019s really good in the room. It\u2019s fun to come to the rink every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"ST CATHARINES, ON – NOVEMBER 25: Ryan McLeod #91 of the Mississauga Steelheads skates during an OHL game against the Niagara IceDogs at the Meridian Centre on November 25, 2017 in St Catharines, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley\/Getty Images)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mississauga, Ontario- Through 12 games with the Mississauga Steelheads, center Ryan McLeod has become an anchor for the team. One of the top prospects for the Edmonton Oilers, McLeod has demonstrated veteran leadership as a star player on the team. He is second in points on the Steelheads with two goals and 11 eleven assists […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2640,"featured_media":27309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"674","footnotes":""},"categories":[3172,23,2,3462,309],"tags":[1667,3773,1499,98,1680,2035],"class_list":["post-37103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chl","category-oilers","category-featured","category-nhl-prospects","category-nhl-top-prospects","tag-chl","tag-james-richmond","tag-mississauga-steelheads","tag-ohl","tag-ottawa-67s","tag-ryan-mcleod"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2640"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}