Nick Ritchie discussion - clears waivers

[Buds17]

Can we assume they tried to trade him first before waiving?

I'd guess that typically only happens when a player isn't likely to clear and is deemed too valuable to lose for no return.

 

[ACC1224]

Leafs don't wanna lose a guy so they just waived him and have given every single team in the league a chance to claim him for free, but they dont wanna lose him

That's not surprising. He was waived because the cap is maxed and they need space. I'm sure they want him to still feel like part of the team in case he isn't claimed.

 

[zeke]

Leafs don't wanna lose a guy so they just waived him and have given every single team in the league a chance to claim him for free, but they dont wanna lose him

Makes sense - he's nice depth to have, just can't afford the caphit. If he clears, then that's no longer an issue, and he's just good depth to have.

Though obviously they're not going to be too upset if they lose him.

 

[Twine Tickler]

wut?

Nick doesn't deserve 2.5AAV. He is 12-13F on a good team. Which is exactly what he is on our team. That said, he hasn't been as bad as people on here want to suggest.

He's had some really awful looking moments that really embody his tenure thus far, but the truth of the matter is he was actually playing quite well down the lineup with Spezza and Simmer from like games 10 thru 30. Before the shutdown.

If he clears, I really don't consider that a loss. He can be recalled no problem and he can still be a very useful player on any given night.

His price tag doesn't come anywhere close to what he gives us back in on ice value, but in a pinch Nick can give us and 31 other teams some meaningful minutes. I would not be surprised to see Nick play again for the Leafs this year, and I also would not be surprised to see a more motivated and hungry version of him as well.

no matter the outcome, there is really no losing here IMO

 

[JT AM da real deal]

He will clear due to AAV, go to taxi squad and then help team out as we near playoffs and game/ref changes

 

[2 Slick]

They put him on waivers because he sucks as does his cap hit. They don’t want to keep him, ridiculous tweet comment.

 

[bossram]

It's not a devastating signing or a massive mistake, but it certainly is a mistake and was an entirely predictable one.

Ritchie has never been a particularly useful player. Last season he popped some goals shooting above his career average shooting %. The "analytics GM" probably should've been able to recognize this (like many of us already had) and not determined that Ritchie might finally be a decent top-nine player. He's just the same as he always was: poor play-driver, poor defensively, takes a lot of penalties.

They should never have pursued him and just kept the cap flexibility. A guy like Brooks, who ended up being waived at the expense of keeping Ritchie for an extra month, would've been more useful to the club and clocked in at a league minimum cap hit.

 

[Menzinger]

Not sure if he gets moved mid season but I can see a team taking him in the offseason. There's always a GM who wants a big boy on dates

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I personally don't think the Leafs want to lose Ritchie, especially for nothing, but at the same time I guess Engvall has played his way into a top 12 spot over him and they don't want to trade him right now, and they don't want to lose defensive depth, so waiving Ritchie was the best chance of not losing someone for nothing.

And worst case, it is cap space.

 

[ShaneFalco]

They put him on waivers because he sucks as does his cap hit. They don’t want to keep him, ridiculous tweet comment.

Lip service if he's not claimed

 

[ShaneFalco]

yup

 

[Stonehands1990]

Knowing Dubas, yes. It's bad PR to other free agency to sign a guy to a deal like his and waive him 30 games into it (despite his bad play). But if Dubas clarifies that he'll work to trade Ritchie to a team who will give him a chance, it will save face.

Dubas has established a history of trading guys to give them an opportunity on other clubs.

If nobody claims him for free nobody is gonna trade assets for him later unless it’s a cap ceiling team that trades for the waiver flexibility

 

[Menzinger]

Will definitely miss the random moment that seemingly happened every game when the camera would pan the Leafs bench and Ritchie would be sitting there looking bewildered

 

[Stephen]

wut?

What on earth is that Tweet? Like the waivers version of “let’s be friends?”

 

[The Iceman]

We should've just kept Mason Marchment and given him a chance instead of trading him for Dennis freakin Malgin

Do you remember how horrible MM was in his Leafs audition?

I was hoping to see something and saw nothing. Wasn't near the energy or physical force you would expect a bigger player to be in a tryout situation.
He stunk!

I don't pretend to follow the Panthers closely but I see MM has 4 G in 46 games for them with 24 pim.

Has he been good??

 

[Stephen]

Nick Ritchie seems to be sleepwalking through his NHL career. Could have just given us the preseason version of himself and he’d have a role on this team.

 

[Stonehands1990]

Depends how team plays but guys like Gards and Sandin are extremely risky players because no one knows on ice what they are gonna do .. but to me it look like a bone headed move by Sandin where he put team completely out of position in a bad formation for very little gain .. but this is da issue with offensive only defense .. they will lose you 1 or 2 goals against per game .. they need to add 2 or 3 to make it work .. last night Sanding was brutal

Yeah. But even when the D gets burnt on a pinch it’s not the wingers job to pick up the slot lol. It’s usually the C unless he was down low on the forecheck to help cover up. That original poster is just blaming Ritchie for being the only forward close. Lack of understanding of structured hockey

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

What on earth is that Tweet? Like the waivers version of “let’s be friends?”

I think it's more they don't want him on the Marlies. They're happy to just hold onto him for depth.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

If nobody claims him for free nobody is gonna trade assets for him later unless it’s a cap ceiling team that trades for the waiver flexibility

They might do a change of scenery swap with a player at a similar caphit.

 

[ULF_55]

Be good for him to get get ice time with the Marlies where he might get some game back.

Leafs just can't afford to use him in any meaningful manner with where his game is.

 

[4thline]

Speaks to the strength of the team. Our 5th best LW is a snakebitten guy that *should* be pacing a 12 goal 32 point season.
Hopefully he's not claimed.

 

[Stephen]

Do you remember how horrible MM was in his Leafs audition?

I was hoping to see something and saw nothing. Wasn't near the energy or physical force you would expect a bigger player to be in a tryout situation.
He stunk!

I don't pretend to follow the Panthers closely but I see MM has 4 G in 46 games for them with 24 pim.

Has he been good??

Mason Marchment played 4 games with Toronto, playing 12 minutes the first game and then no more than 8:21 the rest of the 3 games, so to have a visceral memory of how bad he was seems like a stretch because he just didn’t get any kind of audition compared to your random Denis Malgin or Nic Petan.

Mason Marchment Game by Game Stats and Performance | ESPN

Clearly he got lost in the shuffle, which happens with non drafted long shot prospects. I don’t think it’s something to seriously harp on but at the same time it would have been nice to have kept him around a little longer, because why develop these guys for multiple seasons only to toss them away?

 

[zeke]

lmao I was going to reply as well, but I really like Zeke and his optimism. But it did make me chuckle.

chuckle away, but it's absolutely true.

every GM makes mistakes.

crucial to have one that doesn't sabotage his team further because he's too scared to admit it.

It would have been so, so easy for Dubas to keep Ritchie and waive Engvall, but that would have hurt our team significantly. Many GMs would have done just that.

also nice to have a GM whose mistakes are this minor, of course.

 

[zeke]

Ritchie ends his time as a Leaf (maybe) as the only regular Leaf to manage to post a negative xGF% this year, at 49.6%.

The next closest are Kase at 50.4% and Kampf at 51.1%, but they're only that low due to getting extreme defensive usage.

 

[Macallan18]

What on earth is that Tweet? Like the waivers version of “let’s be friends?”

or "its not you, its me"