Nick Ritchie on why he chose Toronto, Boston not extending him a qualifying offer
Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas continued his busy offseason with the addition of 25-year-old hard-nosed winger Nick Ritchie on Saturday, signing the 10th overall pick in 2014 to a 2-year, $5M deal ($2.5M AAV).
Ritchie, a native of Orangeville, Ontario scored a career high 15 goals with the Boston Bruins last season, but was left without a qualifying offer from the team, becoming an unrestricted free agent on July 28th. He made sure to take his time to find the right fit and he believes that he has found just that after meeting with the Leafs and signing his new deal shortly thereafter.
"It came together pretty fast," said Ritchie on Saturday. "The lure of Toronto and the team they have, and being from here and the fit I think they have [for me], that was all part of it."
It was originally speculated that the Bruins had intended to qualify Ritchie, but pivoted late and decided not to extend the offer, which provided the B's with some extra cap space and a roster spot to fill in free agency. While such an event could have been deflating for some, Ritchie seems to have the right outlook on it - obviously moreso now that he has signed at home in Toronto.
"I think it was a business decision," said the feisty winger. "Things like that happen in hockey. Not much of an explanation there. Not much to say."
Ritchie views this Leafs team as a true contender, regardless of past postseason struggles. He was forthright with his belief in the team and wanted to join a hungry Leafs team who has their sights set on breaking the curse and going on a run in 2021-22.
"This has been a great team for a few years now, they've been right there. They've lost a lot of close series and that's how it goes sometimes. I signed here because I truly believe in the team," he proclaimed.
With Ritchie now having inked his deal with the Leafs, the forward group in Toronto has become crowded, with 15 NHL forwards under contract, Josh Ho-Sang on a PTO and young sniper Nick Robertson seemingly ready to make the jump. It's likely that we see a trade at some point this summer or perhaps shortly after training camp once we have a clearer picture of what the roster might look like for opening night.
With the Ritchie signing in the books, Dubas has effectively used Zach Hyman's $5.5M to sign all of Michael Bunting, Ondřej Kaše and Ritchie and saved himself $800,000 in cap space, as these 3 wingers combine for $4.7M against the cap. Tidy bit of work by Dubas and company.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Patrick Kane | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Alex DeBrincat | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Josh Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jakob Chychrun | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrew Copp | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ryan Donato | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Lars Eller | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Lucas Raymond | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Connor Bedard | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ethen Frank | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Erik Gustafsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Justin Holl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ilya Mikheyev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Dmitry Orlov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Taylor Raddysh | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Golden Knights | 41 | 28 | 10 | 3 | 59 | |
Capitals | 41 | 27 | 10 | 4 | 58 | |
Jets | 42 | 28 | 12 | 2 | 58 | |
Wild | 42 | 26 | 12 | 4 | 56 | |
Maple Leafs | 43 | 27 | 14 | 2 | 56 | |
Devils | 44 | 25 | 15 | 4 | 54 | |
Stars | 40 | 26 | 13 | 1 | 53 | |
Oilers | 41 | 25 | 13 | 3 | 53 | |
Avalanche | 43 | 26 | 16 | 1 | 53 | |
Hurricanes | 42 | 25 | 15 | 2 | 52 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||