I don't mind Brett Ritchie either, he's a big body and good for him on getting another contract. Just don't want to see him on the 1st line or top 6. Because that means we have no depth.
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I don't mind Brett Ritchie either, he's a big body and good for him on getting another contract. Just don't want to see him on the 1st line or top 6. Because that means we have no depth.
Exactly. Good attitude, not a bad skater, a little grit, but not Brett Hull out there, and expecting that, or putting him in a role where he's overmatched makes him look bad. But this is a good signing for a bottom 6 guy.
When Monahan, Backlund, and Dube are hurt, Tkachuk is suspended, Eat Bread is struggling to stay on his skates, and Gaudreau is slumping; Ritchie to the rescue!
Because he was deployed as a top line forward and that line got zero (0) goals in 135 minutes of ES ice time, while giving up 5.
Very replaceable.
Having said that, as it was a move to be able to expose him and protect someone else, then … fine, whatever
I don’t know, would Nordstrom or Leivo qualify to serve similar function in the same expansion draft capacity?
Nordstrom signed in Russia
Leivo probably is looking for a fresh start elsewhere.
Ritchie was probably the guy they could sign - and even then it seems like he did get himself a little but if extra bank - knowing the Flames had a pinch point looming.
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Nordstrom is not an option.
Leivo probably wasn't coming back considering he probably thinks he didn't get the opportunity promised last season.
Ryan is in a bit of a different class of contract and probably isn't signing for 1 year or less than $1M.
So Ritchie was probably the guy that was there to meet the expansion requirements, and as Jiri said he also probably used that leverage to get a bit more money and a one way contract.
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Apparently he played 37.7% of his minutes with Gaudreau and Monahan?
Yes, but a much smaller percentage of his games played. Ritchie only played in 32 games altogether, for a total of about 363 minutes of ice time. It doesn't take many games on the Monahan line to account for a big chunk of that. The rest of the time he was being used appropriately – as a fourth-line plug scrambling for shifts here and there.
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