Because he is younger, brings an element of toughness, and I think he skates well enough that you could play him at RW without being afraid of him getting exploited in a bottom 6 role.
He’s younger and tougher. I’ll give you that. As far as getting exploited? I’ve seen Ritchie get exploited plenty. He is not some two way beast. Last season, while playing on one of the highest scoring clubs in the league, Ritchie had a worse +/- than Gagner. In fact the only guys on the Flames with a worse +/- than Ritchie were Lucic and Monahan. Gagner, meanwhile was one of the better +/- players on the Wings.
You’ve asked why the Wings don’t resign Gagner. It’s a fair question and I think it’s been answered. I wonder if you could explain why the Flames, who look to be all in this year, don’t appear to be interested in re-signing a two way stud like Ritchie who has youth and size to boot.
I’ve appreciated your comments because at least you aren’t just posting crap like ‘durr hobbit’, or ‘ranked 803 in the league’. To be clear, I’m not jumping up and down to get Gagner on this club. Nor am I blind to the short comings in his game. I just think at <800K, Gagner could be a nice piece of insurance in case of injury, an every other game player who won’t require any coddling and knows the system, or, at worst, a good mentor to younger players in Bakersfield.
As you say, we’ve both thrown out our two cents worth, and we aren’t likely to convince one another. Thanks for the courteous replies nonetheless.
