[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by MikaelBacklund

I can just see Burke targeting Ritchie. Can any long time OHL fan comment on what separates Nick Ritchie from Zack Kassian during his draft year. True Ritchie is leading his team in points, but Kassian wasn't far from leading his team. Coincidentally both players played for Peterborough in their draft year and both players stand tall at 6'3.

Kassian's Stats: 61gp 24g 39a 63p 136pim
Ritchie's Stats: 61gp 39g 35a 74p 136pim

Just like most posters, I did some quick youtube scouting on Ritchie and all I really saw was a physical, big winger who has a solid shot. His puck handling didn't appear that great and you could tell it was difficult for him to generate any speed given his size. Does anyone else see him project as the next Kassian 2.0?

Here is The Hockey Writers scouting report on Kassian:

http://thehockeywriters.com/27-zack-...raft-rankings/

ISS: 20
CSB: 10-NA
TSN: 16
THN: 16

I didn't check the mid-season rankings though. Also, that draft may have had more guys perceived to project at a higher level than this draft (aside from the obvious in Tavares of course).

Ritchie is also known for being a good skater with good agility from the scouting reports I have read. Kassian seemed to have an issue there:

There is no doubting the size, skill and energy he brings to the table, but he does need to continue to work on his skating and likewise getting quicker. His skating problems were exposed at times during the WJC-U18s.

Also, this is really interesting from that same article:

I honestly almost took this guy out of the Top 30 as I think he is being overrated given his poor OHL playoff showing.

AND:

Sorkin stated: "Personally, I'm not that high on this guy as I've heard murmurs about this attitude problems

Maybe not exactly fair to compare Ritchie to Kassian at the moment. Ritchie's reports are much more favorable now, but things can change between now and the final rankings.

What I was looking for was how Kassian was scouted in terms of hockey IQ. To me, that is his most glaring weakness whenever I see him play in Vancouver:

http://forecaster.thehockeynews.com/...layer.php?7143

Has questionable hockey sense, which could hinder his ability to put up good point totals at the highest level.

Ritchie is bigger (same height, but 25lbs heavier), faster, more agile, better hockey sense and an elite shot apparently.

http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/02/...-nick-ritchie/

Ritchie might have the best wrist shot in this draft class. It is tremendously powerful, and features a very good release. It can be in the back of the net before the goaltender even knows that he’s shot the puck.

One other thing I noticed about Ritchie last night was that his first step quickness is also very good. While he is merely average when we talk about straight line speed and skating a long distance, he is very agile and has a great first step which helps him beat other players to loose pucks in the offensive zone.

He is definitely a step above Kassian in almost every way. My two biggest worries about Ritchie from everything I have read is: Injury history and perhaps poor conditioning (though poor conditioning can be fixed, and if it is really the case, he can be 'that' much better). Injury concerns is what scares me about this prospect. Possible injury risks are much more scary with undersized players, and big physical players imo, and this has me the most wary about Ritchie.

My ever-changing rankings are: Reinhart, Ekblad, Bennett, Draisaitl, Dal Colle, Virtanen, Ritchie. I am sure it will change often. LoL