Leafs Trade Nick Ritchie

 

Photo From Pension Plan Puppets

Just when I thought I was just going to end up posting an article in the morning about the Leafs loss to St Louis Kyle Dubas decided to make a trade with the Arizona Coyotes meaning it’s going to be a later night then I wanted but I always said that whenever Leafs news happens, I’ll write about it.

So, Nick Ritchie’s time with the Maple Leafs has come to an end, last week during the second intermission of the Leafs Canucks game Eliotte Friedman announced that the Leafs had placed Ritchie on the market and there were interested teams trying to make a deal. During the second intermission of tonight’s game against the Blues Leaf fans were told Arizona was a possible dance partner. Not long after the horn sounded on a 6-3 loss for the Leafs Kyle Dubas got the green light on a trade that sees Nick Ritchie go to the Arizona Coyotes along with a conditional draft pick and in return the Leafs get Forward Ryan Dzingel and Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin. The conditions on the Leaf draft pick are Arizona can either have Toronto’s third round selection in 2023 or their second-round pick in 2025.

To put in bluntly Nick Ritchie who was a free agent signing by Dubas just didn’t work in Toronto at all, he spent time on the top line with Marner and Matthews before falling down the depth chart. Ritchie just couldn’t keep up with the teams fast paced offense. Nick also had some size to him, but you had a better chance of seeing Hailey’s comet then Nick throwing a hit. I know it isn’t fair for me to criticize a player like this especially since I have never played the game, but I have been around it long enough to be able to tell if a player is going to work out. In 33 games as Maple Leaf Nick Ritchie collect just 9 points with 2 of them being goals before being sent down to the AHL with the Marlies where he scored one goal in two appearances. Nick Ritchie’s 2 year 2.5-million-dollar contract comes off the Leaf books with no salary retained which when you’re a tight to the cap team if you don’t have to retain money that is always a bonus.

So, what do the Coyotes get in the acquisition of Nick Ritchie? Well, they get a player on their roster and with Arizona likely being sellers at the March trade deadline they’re going to need players on a roster but they will most likely get the same type of player the Leafs got, someone who is second to the puck because the foot speed isn’t there but if he’s a main stay in the Arizona lineup then he will have plenty of time to find his game.

 

With Ryan Dzingel the Leafs get someone they are awfully familiar with being that he is a former Ottawa Senator, he is someone that will add depth to the bottom 6 forward group and is another guy that can get under the skin of the opponent. In 26 games with Arizona Ryan collected just 7 points. I know people who read this are going to ask why Toronto would take him and to those people I say take a deep breath and remember he was playing for the Coyotes a team where scoring goals happened as often as them winning games but Dzingel does have a scoring ability because he currently has 187 points in his career with his most productive season coming in 18-19 where he registered 56 points in 78 games split between Ottawa and Columbus. So yes, his numbers so far this season don’t look positive but if paired with the right combination of players maybe he can put some points up for Toronto if given the opportunity.

 

With Ilya Lyubushkin I will admit I don’t know a lot about his playing style simply because I don’t see the Coyotes that often, but the Russian comes in standing over 6 foot tall and weighing 200 pounds who plays the right side, and he will work as a depth piece on the blue line sliding in on a bottom pairing. As we know the Leafs have needed help on the blue line because we have seen in the teams last two playoff appearances if Muzzin went down, they really didn’t have anyone capable of stepping in. With this trade late Saturday night, the Leafs addressed depth both at Forward and on Defense. By no means am I saying the Leafs are set for cup run because truthfully, admittedly I am doing research for this trade on the fly and from what I can find on Lyubushkin, and he is known as a physical defenseman and one that likes to stay at home in his end and trust me the Leafs have been looking for that style of players for quite a while. I don’t think the Leafs are finished making any transactions because currently as I am writing this the Leafs are at the max 23 players allowed and are currently $167,000 over the salary cap so Sunday the Leafs will have to send a player down or possibly make another trade. If Toronto is to send a player down it will likely be Timothy Liljegren because he won’t have to go through Waivers, and if there is another trade in the works then that could involve anyone because many names have been mentioned as possible pieces moved out. We have heard teams are interested in Pierre Engvall as well as Justin Holl due to his strong play last year during North Division play. One other possible trade piece is Travis Dermott who is a Restricted Free Agent in 2023 and right now has a salary of 1.5 million dollars for the remainder of this season and next season.

 

That’s all for this one. things are starting to pick up in Leaf land and the next 24 hours could be interesting and again if anything happens there will be an article at some point. So, unless another trade happens, I will be back Monday night to talk about the Toronto Montreal matchup as the Leafs look to climb back into the win column.

Thanks as always for reading.