Nick Ritchie in Toronto

[seanlinden]

he should be looking at guys like Pat Maroon, Zach Kassian, etc to see where he can settle on a role for himself.
I think he still fancies himself a high draft pick that has more offensive upside. but maybe should just accept his fate as a 3rd/4th liner who hits, fights and score maybe 10 a year. maybe fills in up the line up like Kassian does on occasion.
that would be fine, not 2.5 million fine, but ok.
he seems a little lost as to what his role in the league is.

Have to agree with this... I also believe it's not being helped by Toronto's approach to the powerplay.

For years, our #1 powerplay has been the same group -- Marner, Matthews, Nylander, Tavares, and Rielly. Yes, occasionally sub out 1 piece at a time, but all this time, they've never really been good, and certainly not what one would expect out of a $45.6m powerplay....

I also believe that this approach contributes to the problematic "2 classes" of the Leafs roster -- where it's not a "next man up" approach -- everyone else just kind of relies on the big guns to win a game.

Personally, I'd much rather see them spread the wealth. Matthews was incredibly dangerous a few years ago when he was on PP2... do something like this:

PP1 - Marner, Tavares, Ritchie, Rielly, Muzzin -- focus the play from up top -- use Muzzin's shot with Ritchie causing grief infront of the net, and Tavares in the high slot.
PP2 - Matthews, Nylander, Bunting, Spezza, Sandin -- let Bunting crash the crease, do some dirty work, and keep the goalie guessing as Nylander, Matthews, and Spezza are all threats to score from distance.

 

[BallardEra]

Man I had no clue this guy has yet to score yet until I looked up his stats.

 

[hamzarocks]

How can a player be this lazy

 

[Phion Keneuf]

He actually looked good during preseason. What the hell is this

 

[Lauro]

He's playing exactly as expected based on info from the Bruins board after the signing.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

Gotta wonder what Dubas saw in him to give him that contract. Looks like they're just gonna double down on keeping him in the lineup, likely to save face.

 

[Blowfish]

why do we close threads so often, anyways?


anyways Ritchie is a decent player at a decent salary. He'll actually impress you more with skill than with physicality - he is most definitely not an energy type player, and he's on the slow side. But he has a nice set of hands and he is an immovable object.

Zeke said it best at the start of the season...lol

Too funny reading early predictions of greatness and calling other fans out for the warnings.

 

[TMLAM34]

Can we ship Ritchie off to Arizona or Buffalo?

 

[showtime8]

Can we ship Ritchie off to Arizona or Buffalo?

Dubas isn't known for pulling the trigger quickly on a player that is struggling, but I'm not sure how much runway Ritchie has to figure out what he's going to provide for the remaining 69 games this season and a full next season.

Arizona seems like a spot that he can go. I might be in the minority, but I'd bring Travis Boyd back as a 12th/13th forward and have a rotation of guys come in and out of the line-up. Attach a conditional pick and move on from a signing that really hasn't worked and will likely not get significantly better.

 

[ACC1224]

He's terrible, such a disappointment.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Literally a floating blob out there. We’ve spent 6.3 million in cap space this offseason on two worthless additions so far.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Zeke said it best at the start of the season...lol

Too funny reading early predictions of greatness and calling other fans out for the warnings.

I'm sure there are stats out there somewhere that will show Ritchie has been good and we're all missing it

 

[ShaneFalco]

Gotta wonder what Dubas saw in him to give him that contract. Looks like they're just gonna double down on keeping him in the lineup, likely to save face.

There's accountability for ya!

 

[Buds17]

I particularly can't believe how quickly things turned (that demotion to the 4th line).

 

[Slyfox]

I would put him on waivers and send him down to the AHL. Use Semyonov or Anderson instead. Our bottom scoring has been pathetic. Outside of Kase and Spezza (I'm still perplexed why they haven't been played together) no one else offers any offense. We desperately need atleast 3-4 of the bottom 6 to be threats to score. We can't rely on two lines for all our scoring. Its never worked for any successful cup contender. Mikheyev will help but we still need more incase of injuries.

 

[Brown Dog]

This year's Vesey. Just a warm body taking up space in the lineup.

 

[AvroArrow]

Ritchie is the most over-paid player on the Leafs. And he's only making 2.5M.

 

[Its not your fault]

Zeke said it best at the start of the season...lol

Too funny reading early predictions of greatness and calling other fans out for the warnings.

Zeke likes to talk alot and when you do you better be right more times then not. Pretty sure Zeke is right more often then not. That said,

Find it funny that so many seem to take runs at him in hopes they're right but then the threads closed so it never comes full circle. Either way respect good hockey knowledge and you can have that when you're right and wrong. Thats why some of the hack fans are so easy to spot, and it's alarming how many must just watch them to losse because half the time they only know the star power in the league, and the leafs.

 

[ACC1224]

It's almost like everything Dubas touches turns to shit

 

[justashadowof]

Good power forward types are near impossible to acquire through free agency at reasonable prices. There's usually a reason why they're available. Although I must say that Simmonds puts in a honest performance if he's physically able to.

The team wouldn't have been in any better shape if they had managed to re-sign Foligno.

Dubas (and the previous GM as well) have ignored trying to draft this type of player at their peril. I get it: misses on these types of prospects look really bad while misses on waterbugs who peak as AHL scorers don't look nearly as bad on paper.

 

[Tak7]

He's terrible, such a disappointment.

Many fans put such silly expectations on him after 1 or 2 pre-seasons games. Some Bruins fans I talked to were really underwhelmed with him down the stretch, but I think many fans here were seduced by his career high goals last year.

 

[capfit9]

Did Ritchie play under Kyle with the Soo or was that the year after Kyle was hired by the Leafs ?

 

[Buds17]

Many fans put such silly expectations on him after 1 or 2 pre-seasons games. Some Bruins fans I talked to were really underwhelmed with him down the stretch, but I think many fans here were seduced by his career high goals last year.

I'm definitely not one for placing much emphasis upon the preseason. A top six role might have very well even been a reach. I can't imagine management (and coaching) envisioned a fourth line role though...not at this early point; not during his first season with the team.

 

[Marshy]

One might even say he's been very....vanilla.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Good power forward types are near impossible to acquire through free agency at reasonable prices. There's usually a reason why they're available. Although I must say that Simmonds puts in a honest performance if he's physically able to.

The team wouldn't have been in any better shape if they had managed to re-sign Foligno.

Dubas (and the previous GM as well) have ignored trying to draft this type of player at their peril. I get it: misses on these types of prospects look really bad while misses on waterbugs who peak as AHL scorers don't look nearly as bad on paper.

Knies, Tverberg, Schingoethe and Steeves (FA) all play a power type game.