[News] Leafs waive Nick Ritchie

[Vinny01]

Played at a 22 goal 38pt pace last year but Boston did not want to qualify him.

I really do not hate having more beef in the bottom 6. Like I said if Sutter can find a role for him maybe he can get back to that Boston production which would be huge for our bottom 6

[Monahammer]

I wanted to give him a shot in the offseason but now it just doesn't really make sense. We don't need more LWs, even bottom 6 ones.

[topfiverecords]

He won't get past the Oilers.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

He won't get past the Oilers.

Oilers bottom 6 is a mess but not as messy as their goaltending, defense or cap situation. I don’t see them being able to pull it off

[Enoch Root]

Oilers don't have the cap space to claim him

[Cheese]

If Ritchie cant score with Matthews, he wont score here. We need speed and he aint got it.

[Muta]

From rags to Ritchies.

[joejoe3]

All your Ritchies are belong to us

[dino7c]

might be worth it but you need to move someone else

should never have signed there...never understand why players sign with these teams that have a few starts that play 90% of the minutes and then blame everyone else when they lose

[djsFlames]

Let's add his brother and they can be on waivers together!

Bet the oil snag him. Holland needs a distraction desperately.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by dino7c

might be worth it but you need to move someone else

should never have signed there...never understand why players sign with these teams that have a few starts that play 90% of the minutes and then blame everyone else when they lose

If you do manage to get some kind of chemistry with any of those star players it can be a great way for a mediocre player to really cash in. You get 60 points riding shotgun on the first line/PP with a star player. You then sign somewhere else on a $4-6 million/4 year contract, despite the fact you are in your late 20s/early 30s and kind of suck.

It's called the James Neal Special.

[Bingo]

I seem to be a little less annoyed with Pitlick than most.

From coaching kids I always gravitate towards players that play a direct brand of hockey, and he's very direct. No hands, so he needs to move to a energy forward / fourth line guy, but he's still in my lineup if they upgrade the third line.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I seem to be a little less annoyed with Pitlick than most.

From coaching kids I always gravitate towards players that play a direct brand of hockey, and he's very direct. No hands, so he needs to move to a energy forward / fourth line guy, but he's still in my lineup if they upgrade the third line.

If I'm looking at Ritchie it's to upgrade on Richardson most likely, not Piltick.

Personally I'm willing to give the Pitlick-Backlund-Coleman line more time to gel, as that was clearly the Flames trying to replicate Goodrow-Gourde-Coleman.

It's been weird for Pitlick though as he was behind to start the year missing training camp with an injury, then as he was getting back up to speed he got hurt again, and then the entire team had the COVID shutdown.

I'd give him 10 games post COVID shutdown here to see if he can turn it around, his defensive impacts have been good still which is really his role too.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I seem to be a little less annoyed with Pitlick than most.

From coaching kids I always gravitate towards players that play a direct brand of hockey, and he's very direct. No hands, so he needs to move to a energy forward / fourth line guy, but he's still in my lineup if they upgrade the third line.

It just seems like lately that these energy forward guys always become an offensive black hole despite relative success on previous teams. Our bottom six even has some decent offensive talent in it this year. Even last year, Bennett and Doc were centering the bottom six. Far from scrubs, but the wingers did F all. We don't need superstars there, just guys who can get 20 points. Very frustrating.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Oilers bottom 6 is a mess but not as messy as their goaltending, defense or cap situation. I don’t see them being able to pull it off

Exactly why they do it. It's their track record to ignore their major issues and tweak their lower priority ones.

[cannon7]

Like the player. Don't like the contract.

[HighLifeMan]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I seem to be a little less annoyed with Pitlick than most.

From coaching kids I always gravitate towards players that play a direct brand of hockey, and he's very direct. No hands, so he needs to move to a energy forward / fourth line guy, but he's still in my lineup if they upgrade the third line.

I get that point of view. He certainly plays as you stated.

However..
Among forwards that have played more than 15 games this season Tyler Pitlick ranks third last (441st) in the NHL in terms of pts/60 at even strength (0.22) behind only Riley Nash (just waived) and Marcus Johansson. Considering he has spent the entire year in a middle six role, and half of his icetime has been alongside Backlund that' is downright atrocious.

[kyuss275]

No thanks. Flames need bonafide top 6 players, not dumpster diving players.

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by HighLifeMan

I get that point of view. He certainly plays as you stated.

However..
Among forwards that have played more than 15 games this season Tyler Pitlick ranks third last (441st) in the NHL in terms of pts/60 at even strength (0.22) behind only Riley Nash (just waived) and Marcus Johansson. Considering he has spent the entire year in a middle six role, and half of his icetime has been alongside Backlund that' is downright atrocious.

Yeah because Backlund is lighting it up!

[HighLifeMan]

Originally Posted by Burning Beard

Yeah because Backlund is lighting it up!

Yeah and Pitlick is a large reason for that. Regardless of his struggles Backlund (who is historically a strong five on five guy) is still producing at 5x the rate Pitlick is at five on five. Hell the second worst on the team (Gudbranson) is producing at 3x his rate.