Toronto Maple Leafs To Sign Nick Ritchie

 

Last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Ondrej Kase to a low-risk, one-year contract. Now, according to Elliotte Friedman, they are going to sign Nick Ritchie to a two-year contract. It will have an average annual value of $2.5 million. This will be the third team in a row that Kase and Ritchie have been on together. The pair were traded from the Anaheim Ducks to the Boston Bruins in two separate deals during the 2019-20 season. 

Hearing Nick Ritchie to TOR. Sounds like 2x$2.5M

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 31, 2021

The Bruins surprisingly did not send Ritchie a qualifying offer this off-season, even after a strong regular season. In 56 games with Boston, he scored a career-high 15 goals and recorded 26 total points. With that, he played a very physical game, so the Maple Leafs will sure benefit from it. He also was utilized on their power play as a net-front presence, so he could do the same in Toronto. 

Ritchie should be able to slot somewhere in the Maple Leafs' middle-six and provide solid depth scoring. More importantly, though, he will provide more physicality to their forward group, which is certainly something they should be happy about. 

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