Nick Ritchie suggests that more than just poor play contributed to his trade to Arizona
After a bit of a delay due to some immigration issues for Nick Ritchie, the Orangeville, ON native finally made his Arizona Coyotes debut on Friday night against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Ritchie was dealt by the Leafs to the Coyotes along with a conditional pick in exchange for defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and forward Ryan Dzingel. The former has suited up in two games for the Leafs thus far, while the latter was placed on waivers this week and picked up by the San Jose Sharks.
I have to be honest - I was wondering if playing in a more subdued market would actually be good for Nick Ritchie, a fairly soft-spoken player and a man of few works, as we saw during his limited time in a hockey hotbed like Toronto through the first half of this season.
Well, unfortunately for Ritchie, his first game in Arizona did not get off to a good start, as he rocked a vulnerable Mattias Janmark, who did not have the puck, resulting in an interference call - and just like that, Ritchie had more penalty minutes in the game than he had total ice time (1:47 at the time).
Ritchie finished the night with just over 11 minutes of ice time (2nd lowest on the team) in a 3-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. He was held off the scoresheet, but he did register a couple of shots and 4 hits in the contest.
Before Friday's game, Ritchie had a chance to speak with the media. When asked about how things in Toronto had gotten to the point of the eventual trade, Ritchie gave a very vague response.
It's clear that Ritchie believes that he had been treated somewhat unfairly in Toronto. I don't blame him though. I'd be sour too if I went from playing with Auston Matthews to playing with the Marlies to being traded to Arizona in a few short months.
Ultimately, anyone who watched Ritchie play in Toronto knew that he hadn't lived up to the contract he had signed with the Leafs this summer. He was brought in to be a secondary scorer. He didn't do that. He was brought in to play a physical game and ramp up the energy when the team needed it. He didn't do that. He was brought in to dissuade the opposition from taking liberties on his teammates. You can credit him for doing this occasionally, but nowhere near what was expected.
Ritchie's tenure in Toronto was laden with lackluster efforts, bad penalties, offensive frustrations and eventually healthy scratches and a demotion. Hopefully the opportunity he receives in Arizona can help him get back on track.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 26 | 325 ANSWERS Nick Ritchie suggests that more than just poor play contributed to his trade to Arizona Do you think Ritchie is just being sour because he was dealt to Arizona? | ||
| Yes | 199 | 61.2 % |
| No | 53 | 16.3 % |
| I'd be sour too | 73 | 22.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
