Confirmed with Link: Nick Ritchie to Toronto (2x2.5M AAV)

[Racer88]

he's no gritty energy guy, and he's a bit slow - so expect lots of leafs fans to poop on him.

I think we are past that…….we will poop on the guy that signed him

 

[Clark4Ever]

3 Predictions for Ritchie.

1. He’s super excited to be a Leaf. Says he’s going to have “ a good summer” I take it he means getting in shape/working on skating. He trims down and gains foot speed. Patrols the left side of Marner and Matthews, plays 2nd PP and gets 25-25-50 points. Junior offensive ability finally translates to NHL. Plays smarter, picks spots for thunderous legal hits, becomes a fan favourite and playoff machine, helps us break through the 1st round. Dubas is hailed as a genius. Don Cherry crashes Stanley Cup parade.

2. “Good summer” means have fun, eat too much to bulk up, gains 15 pounds some of which is muscle, ends up being even slower, causing many late hit penalties and lengthy suspensions. Costs leafs many games including a penalty in overtime game 7 of first round ending up in the opposition win. Dubas is roasted for signing him

3. Starts on first line but can’t keep up. Takes too many penalties. Slides down to 3rd or 4th line where he plays better with smaller minutes and chips in 12-15 goals, some on the PP, while acting as the team face puncher because Simmonds is injured. People complain about his contract but he tops out as a Bottom 6 tough guy who has some skill like Simmonds. Makes little difference in the Team’s success in playoffs.

I'm not expecting miracles, but based on our options at LW, I do expect Ritchie to stick on the top line and #1 PP unit and have a career season.

 

[Racer88]

How can we be exited about signing a winger that wasn’t even it his teams top 4 on the depth chart

 

[Bluelines]

How can we be exited about signing a winger that wasn’t even it his teams top 4 on the depth chart

The same way we Leaf fans get excited about this team for the last 54 years... willful denial of reality....

 

[Racer88]

The same way we Leaf fans get excited about this team for the last 54 years... willful denial of reality....

Sigh………your right. I’m still a few weeks away from excitement

 

[saltming]

How can we be exited about signing a winger that wasn’t even it his teams top 4 on the depth chart

Because his skill set was something the Bruins had in spades, thus why he was expendable, and we had none of.
We are excited because he brings something we completely lack and most fans believe we need to get over the hump in the playoffs.

 

[saltming]

The same way we Leaf fans get excited about this team for the last 54 years... willful denial of reality....

Reality is subjective.
Personally I see a need being met which can work out well for the team. This does not mean I'm planning a parade. If Kyle went out and got a bunch of soft skilled players I would be very humdrum at this moment, but since I see a movement that I personally feel needs to be addressed gives me optimism.
I would say that's not denial of anything

 

[Sypher04]

How can we be exited about signing a winger that wasn’t even it his teams top 4 on the depth chart

Why is the default position always the negative. Maybe, the excitement about Ritchie is partially style, maybe it's that he scored 15 goals, and 26 points in 56 games. A 38 point pace mostly from the 3rd line and playing just 12-13 mins a game. There is potential here for real solid production if we place him in a scoring role with our stars. And he adds an element to those lines that simply has never been there.

 

[ULF_55]

How can we be exited about signing a winger that wasn’t even it his teams top 4 on the depth chart

How can fans get excited about a 2nd. round draft pick?

Leafs need players who aren't in their top 4 depth chart as well. Taveres, Matthews, Nylander, marner, eveyone else is outside their top 4 depth chart.

 

[Mess]

Nick Ritchie -- William Nylander -- Mitch Marner line

 

[Racer88]

Because his skill set was something the Bruins had in spades, thus why he was expendable, and we had none of.
We are excited because he brings something we completely lack and most fans believe we need to get over the hump in the playoffs.

Isn’t that sad that we have to be excited because the Bruins have 4 wingers better then him and we don’t. They will be major competition for us next year……..how will we compete with their cast offs

 

[al secord]

Isn’t that sad that we have to be excited because the Bruins have 4 wingers better then him and we don’t. They will be major competition for us next year……..how will we compete with their cast offs

Imagine Colorado bitching about only getting our third line centre.

 

[saltming]

Isn’t that sad that we have to be excited because the Bruins have 4 wingers better then him and we don’t. They will be major competition for us next year……..how will we compete with their cast offs

Why should we be sad? Bruins are ahead of us in being an established team, we are a few years into a rebuild. Our core is established and if we want to compare it should be teams on a similar timeline like buffalo Florida or even the oilers, all of which should be slightly ahead of us in their builds.
How can we compete with their castoffs? By our core playing better than theirs. Also goaltending and coaching.
Will it happen? Time will tell.
Just because we are taking parts they got rid of doesn't mean that the mix here can't be better here. Chemistry is elusive. For 2 years I battled with posters about haw well Hyman fit with Matthews and there is a huge question if he will have that chemistry with mcdavid.
Just like everything in all pro sports it's calculated risks and until they play together we are in a guessing game.
Long way to say it can be mes down to if you're a glass half full or half empty person

 

[smitty10]

Nick Ritchie -- William Nylander -- Mitch Marner line

I hope not. Nylander is garbage at center.

 

[fahad203]

Reality is subjective.
Personally I see a need being met which can work out well for the team. This does not mean I'm planning a parade. If Kyle went out and got a bunch of soft skilled players I would be very humdrum at this moment, but since I see a movement that I personally feel needs to be addressed gives me optimism.
I would say that's not denial of anything

It really comes down to the coach. There are coaches in this league doing more with less

Leafs tempo of game is so pee wee like. We don't forcheck just do circles and we don't play the physical game enough

Kyle can go out there and get us Lindros in his prime but with this coach and his style he will become Freddy goat

 

[Mess]

I hope not. Nylander is garbage at center.

Other than Faceoffs it would essentially be Marner that is intended to drive the line and he could feed Willy who is the finisher for him while Ritchie does the heavy lifting for the line was my line of thinking here.

Marner is more responsible defensively so he would be acting as the defacto centre for the trio while the play is on-going and take on a bigger role defensively because a centre role does that.

Nick Ritchie -- Mitch Marner -- William Nylander line when the play is in action.

 

[saltming]

It really comes down to the coach. There are coaches in this league doing more with less

Leafs tempo of game is so pee wee like. We don't forcheck just do circles and we don't play the physical game enough

Kyle can go out there and get us Lindros in his prime but with this coach and his style he will become Freddy goat

Counterpoint would be we didn't have the players for the heavy forecheck game. Honestly it was Hyman and that was it and I would discribe his forecheck as tenacious not heavy.
Hopefully the incoming players can change that for us

 

[Racer88]

How can fans get excited about a 2nd. round draft pick?

Leafs need players who aren't in their top 4 depth chart as well. Taveres, Matthews, Nylander, marner, eveyone else is outside their top 4 depth chart.

We can get excited about 2nd round picks because they can have a high ceiling.
We already know what Richie is……not good enough for one of our main competitors

 

[Racer88]

Why should we be sad? Bruins are ahead of us in being an established team, we are a few years into a rebuild. Our core is established and if we want to compare it should be teams on a similar timeline like buffalo Florida or even the oilers, all of which should be slightly ahead of us in their builds.
How can we compete with their castoffs? By our core playing better than theirs. Also goaltending and coaching.
Will it happen? Time will tell.
Just because we are taking parts they got rid of doesn't mean that the mix here can't be better here. Chemistry is elusive. For 2 years I battled with posters about haw well Hyman fit with Matthews and there is a huge question if he will have that chemistry with mcdavid.
Just like everything in all pro sports it's calculated risks and until they play together we are in a guessing game.
Long way to say it can be mes down to if you're a glass half full or half empty person

Our core is not established, they are locked up for a short time but they have had absolutely no success in the last 5 years. We have no idea if they ever will.
Besides non of those other teams have 50% of their cap tied up on 4 similar forwards.
This is going to be the anchor around our success until something changes

 

[saltming]

Our core is not established, they are locked up for a short time but they have had absolutely no success in the last 5 years. We have no idea if they ever will

Established and successful are different and independent of each other

 

[fahad203]

Counterpoint would be we didn't have the players for the heavy forecheck game. Honestly it was Hyman and that was it and I would discribe his forecheck as tenacious not heavy.
Hopefully the incoming players can change that for us

Thats not necessarily true in my humble opinion. We have players that can really skate and some size

The coach has the mandate that type of play. Torts would have ripped mikyahev and Engvall apart if they didn't firecheck hard

 

[Racer88]

Because his skill set was something the Bruins had in spades, thus why he was expendable, and we had none of.
We are excited because he brings something we completely lack and most fans believe we need to get over the hump in the playoffs.

I guess that’s a good way to look at it

 

[Racer88]

Established and successful are different and independent of each other

I see what you are getting at. Fair enough
I regarded established as successful

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Because his skill set was something the Bruins had in spades, thus why he was expendable, and we had none of.
We are excited because he brings something we completely lack and most fans believe we need to get over the hump in the playoffs.

His skill set is actually something the Bruins lack. Take a look at there roster, they are currently one of the softest rosters in the NHL.

 

[Buds17]

We can get excited about 2nd round picks because they can have a high ceiling.
We already know what Richie is……not good enough for one of our main competitors

Ritchie also comes from a Boston team that had a better finish than the Leafs did. I'd much prefer to bring in players from those teams instead of looking to add through teams that ended up being in the draft lottery.