The amount of obscure former Bruins players is limitless, especially in the recent years with more players shuffling all over the league with tight salary cap restrictions the last few years.
This edition marks number three of this period of the offseason, the slow times if you're not competing in the Stanley Cup Final. After talking about his brother Brett on Sunday, let's touch on Nick Ritchie today.
Nick Ritchie is one of many lesser known former Bruins players
Nick Ritchie was a first round draft pick in the 2014 NHL Draft by the Anaheim Ducks after playing in the OHL with the Peterborough Petes and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, the same draft that saw the Bruins get David Pastrnak in the first round. He made his NHL debut in 2015-2016 with the Ducks, amassing two goals and two assists in 33 games.
Ritchie followed up his rookie season with 28 points in 2016-2017, 27 points in 2017-2018, and 31 points in 2018-2019. To start of 2019-2020, Ritchie had nine goals and 22 assists in 41 games with the Ducks before they pulled the trigger on a trade with the Bruins, sending Ritchie to Boston in exchange for Danton Heinen. This trade came on the heels of a separate Bruins-Ducks trade that send Ondrej Kase to Boston for David Backes, Axel Andersson, and a first round pick that became Jacob Perreault.
After getting a goal and an assist in seven games with the Bruins, Ritchie had one goal in the playoff bubble when the season resumed. Entering the 56 game 2021 season, Ritchie was looking for a bounce back. He delivered a solid campaign, playing in all 56 games and scoring 15 goals with 11 assists. He added a goal and three assists in the playoffs that year.
Ritchie was then not extended a qualifying offer and hit free agency, where he signed a two-year, $5 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He recorded nine points in 33 games before he was traded later that season to the Arizona Coyotes along with a second round pick in exchange for Ryan Dzingel and Ilya Lyubushkin.
Ritchie ended the season with 10 goals and four assists in 24 games before starting 2022-2023 with nine goals and 12 assists in 58 games with the Coyotes. That's when he was traded to the Calgary Flames along with Troy Stecher in exchange for Connor Mackey and his brother Brett Ritchie. He finished the year with five points in 16 games.
Ritchie then went overseas, where he has played for Oulun Kärpät in Finland and the Iserlohn Roosters in Germany. While he was playing in Finland, he was handed an eight-game suspension for punching another player in the head multiple times while he was laying on the ice. His contract in Finland was terminated in January and he signed with the Roosters the same day.