Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
Ritchie scores some pretty sick goals. Good speed, skill, shot and drives the net hard. Have you seen highlights of him? He's got more skill than you are giving him credit for. I've seen comparisons to Bertuzzi
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Yes, I have watched a most of his highlights. He does score some nice goals. However, most of those nice goals are scored due to his size and ability to push through the D. The tools in his offensive tool box in my opinion are not good enough for someone considered to be top 10. His passing is average to below average, his playmaking is poor for someone that's going to be a 1st rounder, and his shot is below average for a top 15 pick.
He isn't without talent. I'm not saying he's bad. I'm saying that if he's taken in the top end of the first round (1-12th), that would be a bad pick relative to his abilities.
When you compare his raw skills to those of Draisaitl, Dal Colle, Ehlers, Nylander and a couple others, Ritchie is inferior. The only thing he has on those guys is that he is already a man sized hockey player.
Also the comparisons to Bertuzzi are semi-terrible. The only place where they are similar is they were both big and physical. Bert's hands were very smooth, and his passing was good and he had a better shot than Ritchie. It took him time to figure out how to use everything properly, but those better skills led to better down the road results. Ritchie unfortunately doesn't have those skills.
It is noticeable, that he is as tall as he is, and the relative average/below average size of most of the rest of the forwards are in the top 15. If Ritchie's skills were as good as say Bennett, Nylander or Ehlers (all three are ahead of Ritchie on mynhldraft's site), wouldn't Ritchie begin to make sense for 1st or 2nd overall? He would have all the things necessary to be a star then.