Leaf Ritchie thread is gold...
When Ritchie is one of only 2-4 players to hit 20 goals and 200 hits next season, people will see how foolish Boston was to let him go.
Pretty much a lock for this in our top 6.
He could hit 20 goals and 200 hits for them, but it will be the saddest way a player can do it.
The Leaf's will do what the Bruin's did, and that's giving Ritchie every chance to succeed with a long leash. His overall toolset gives you the idea he can be an imposing power forward, and he's worth the time you put into him because he can give you that toughness with production that every team desires.
Problem is, his production is nothing special when considering the ice time he receives, and his toughness that is suppose to make him an overall hard player to play against doesn't happen. His intensity is non existing, there is next to nothing. His hits can work at times, but he is slow and they mostly take him out of the play. He is far from being a two-way forward, dare I say, a defensive liability. And for some weird reason, Ritchie will not use his size to drive the net. When he gets the puck, far too often he try's to make skilled plays that lead nowhere instead of making the simple plays. I swear near the end of the season on the PP, they tried not pass it to Ritchie because he would kill the flow or just mess it up.
Saying this, he is amazing in front of the net. He's solid as hell, and looks near impossible to move. Definitely looks more than a handful for defenseman and the goalie right in front. But it's such a small part of the game, it doesn't nearly make up for what he lacks to do when it matters most.
Toughness is important, but you have to be able to use it effectively, and Nick Ritchie unless he does a total 180 will be largely a passenger on any team he plays.
Predict by half the season, Leaf fans will start to sour. Start of year 2, they'll want him off the team.