AMESBURY, Mass. - The Hockey East Association announced today that Boston College sophomore forward Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) has been awarded the honor of 2024-25 Hockey East Player of the Year.

Alongside Leonard, Boston University freshman defenseman Cole Hutson (North Barrington, Ill.) was named Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Year while UConn Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh was voted Coach of the Year by his peers.

All three awards were selected by the league’s 11 head coaches.

Leonard becomes the 15th Eagle to be named Hockey East player of the year and the first Boston College skater since Johnny Gaudreau was so honored two years in row from 2012-14. He paced Hockey East in a number of categories in league play, including goals (25), points (37), points per game (1.54), shots (116), game-winning goals (8), and plus-minus (+25). He is just the second skater to reach the 25-goal mark in league play since 2000-01 when Brian Gionta hit the milestone and Cutter Gauthier did so last season. He leads the nation in overall goals with 29 and is one strike away from becoming the first college hockey player with back-to-back 30-goal season since BC’s Cam Atkinson in 2009-10 and 2010-11. The Amherst, Mass., native is first in the country with nine game-winning goals and sits eighth nationally with 47 points. His 181 shots on net are second in the nation and his plus-29 rating is third. He was twice named Hockey East Player of the Month (November, January) and National Player of the Month in November and collected four Hockey East Player of the Week accolades.

Hutson is the third consecutive Terrier to be named Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Year following Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson and is the 13th overall player from Boston University to claim top freshman honors, the most all-time. Hutson scored more points (29) than any other first-year skater in Hockey East play while his 21 assists were tops in the league. Among his classmates in 24 league contests, Hutson was third in shots on net (68), tied for second in power-play goals (3) and game-winning goals (2), and was third in blocks (23). No rookie in the country has more points than Hutson’s 39 overall points and 27 assists while his 96 shots on net sit 12th in the NCAA among all freshmen skaters. His four game-winning goals are also second-most of any rookie in the country.

Cavanaugh, the only UConn head coach in its Hockey East-era, is the first Husky bench boss to win the Bob Kullen Award. He guided his squad to a fourth-place finish in the Army ROTC Hockey East Standings, tying the highest-ever finish for UConn after being picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll. The Huskies posted a 12-8-4 record in league play while scoring the third-most goals (76) of any Hockey East program through the 24-game season and the best power-play percentage in the league (28.4%). The Huskies also led the nation in shorthanded goals, scoring nine times while at a manpower disadvantage.

The Hockey East semifinals are set for 4:00pm and 7:30pm on Thursday, March 20 at TD Garden in Boston, while the 40th championship game will be played Friday, March 21 at 7:30pm. All three games will air live on NESN+ in their entirety. Championship tickets can be purchased at TicketMaster.com.