Article: Don't Sleep On Ryder Ritchie

[Luke Sims]

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[Citizen Strife]

Give me all the hype

[Peter Lemonjello]

Excellent write up Luke.

Any reason why he dropped? I would guess his size.

[Luke Sims]

3 hours ago, Peter Lemonjello said:

Excellent write up Luke.

Any reason why he dropped? I would guess his size.

Injury in his draft year, teams scared of the unknown.

[Peter Lemonjello]

8 minutes ago, Luke Sims said:

Injury in his draft year, teams scared of the unknown.

got it. thanks for the reply.

[Protec]

3 hours ago, Peter Lemonjello said:

Excellent write up Luke.

Any reason why he dropped? I would guess his size.

A lot of defenseman were taken along with some players from off the board early. There were Russians taken too adding up to 16 of the first 34 picks. Between 35-44, Yurov's team goalie was picked by Colorado and six defenseman went before Ritchie. 

I would say it was just a nice break that Ritchie was still there for MN. 

[mnfaninnc]

Don't overlook the prospect is the word. I hope that doesn't mean people think he will make the roster this training camp! 

Let's put this in perspective: Elite Prospects now lists him at 6'1". He may still be growing. However having to gain a little strength and weight is not really the right way to say it. At 6'1" and possibly 6'2" when he's done, he's going to need to be in that 210 lb. area. That's where that height becomes effective. 215 would make him very powerful. What are we saying?

He needs 35-40 lbs. of strength at 176, his current weight. This is severely more than a little strength and weight. Ritchie has bloodlines, something I love, so he could work his way into having an NHL body, much like Buium has his brother to follow after. 

However, we saw the much hyped Beckman refuse to put on the weight. His last call up he was picking pucks out of the crowd instead of going in an battling. We can't have any winger doing that type of thing. Even Rossi goes into the crowd now and digs out pucks with his better stick. We've got to have these guys get to NHL body types.

My hope is that Bankier, Milne are paying attention and strengthening themselves, specifically Milne who could be the next Duhaime. But, he'll need not just an NHL body, but an NHL bottom 6 body. Anything short of that and nobody in the front office will take him seriously in training camp. That's just they way it works.

[Lovehockey]

3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Don't overlook the prospect is the word. I hope that doesn't mean people think he will make the roster this training camp! 

Let's put this in perspective: Elite Prospects now lists him at 6'1". He may still be growing. However having to gain a little strength and weight is not really the right way to say it. At 6'1" and possibly 6'2" when he's done, he's going to need to be in that 210 lb. area. That's where that height becomes effective. 215 would make him very powerful. What are we saying?

He needs 35-40 lbs. of strength at 176, his current weight. This is severely more than a little strength and weight. Ritchie has bloodlines, something I love, so he could work his way into having an NHL body, much like Buium has his brother to follow after. 

However, we saw the much hyped Beckman refuse to put on the weight. His last call up he was picking pucks out of the crowd instead of going in an battling. We can't have any winger doing that type of thing. Even Rossi goes into the crowd now and digs out pucks with his better stick. We've got to have these guys get to NHL body types.

My hope is that Bankier, Milne are paying attention and strengthening themselves, specifically Milne who could be the next Duhaime. But, he'll need not just an NHL body, but an NHL bottom 6 body. Anything short of that and nobody in the front office will take him seriously in training camp. That's just they way it works.

Big body is great but not everyone needs this. Kucherov, Panerin, Point, Aho does not fit your definition at all but I am sure Wild will be happy to have them with the weight they have. There is needs for the balance on the team but any teams needs skills and this is the way to win and provide entertaining brand of hockey. Even Florida with bigger size still have skills. And if the game 7 in finals will go differently we will be talking about McDavid and his amazing skills 

[mnfaninnc]

2 hours ago, Lovehockey said:

Big body is great but not everyone needs this. Kucherov, Panerin, Point, Aho does not fit your definition at all but I am sure Wild will be happy to have them with the weight they have. There is needs for the balance on the team but any teams needs skills and this is the way to win and provide entertaining brand of hockey. Even Florida with bigger size still have skills. And if the game 7 in finals will go differently we will be talking about McDavid and his amazing skills 

Kucherov is the biggest of these 4 weighing in at 182. The others are 175ish. These guys have incredible skill and are playing at this weight. 

Both Point and Kucherov have also had injury history in the past 5 years. I would suggest this is specifically due to the punishment and their size. 

Aho has been relatively healthy, Panarin too. 

Let's take a look, though at these players. They are surrounded by bigger players on their team. Not everyone has to be 6'4" 225 to matter, but you can't have a bunch of 6' 175 lb. guys either. You can have a couple, but the rest need to have plenty of muscle.

You also need guys that if these stars get targeted, they will make sure it is regretted. This is the biggest area of need that the Wild have. They iced a very undersized team last year. Sure, go ahead, let Ritchie be 175. But, you've also got Heidt, Rossi, Zuccarello, who are in the same category. We've simply got far too many guys who fit in Ritchie's class (right now). 

This is why we are not hard to play against. This is why Beckman, Walker, Lettieri, Lucchini couldn't make a difference. It's not that the player is too small, it's the accumulation of players that are too small. So, which ones are you going to keep that are small? You can only choose about 3.

[mnfaninnc]

So, Nashville just signed Saros to a long extension and he's off the goalie market. They also have signed a backup. This makes Yaroslav Askarov now trade bait as he's blocked.

What would an Askarov-The Wall battery look like? If you listen to Trotz's comments on what it would take to pry him loose, we have the ammo: young forward or defensive prospect. 

This would excite me, I'd love to see both goalies as our battery for a few years. I think it could work. What would need to happen? Fleury retire, Goose get moved and let the 2 young goalies take over. At some point you'd have to choose 1, but oh what a ride that could be.

[Lovehockey]

59 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Kucherov is the biggest of these 4 weighing in at 182. The others are 175ish. These guys have incredible skill and are playing at this weight. 

Both Point and Kucherov have also had injury history in the past 5 years. I would suggest this is specifically due to the punishment and their size. 

Aho has been relatively healthy, Panarin too. 

Let's take a look, though at these players. They are surrounded by bigger players on their team. Not everyone has to be 6'4" 225 to matter, but you can't have a bunch of 6' 175 lb. guys either. You can have a couple, but the rest need to have plenty of muscle.

You also need guys that if these stars get targeted, they will make sure it is regretted. This is the biggest area of need that the Wild have. They iced a very undersized team last year. Sure, go ahead, let Ritchie be 175. But, you've also got Heidt, Rossi, Zuccarello, who are in the same category. We've simply got far too many guys who fit in Ritchie's class (right now). 

This is why we are not hard to play against. This is why Beckman, Walker, Lettieri, Lucchini couldn't make a difference. It's not that the player is too small, it's the accumulation of players that are too small. So, which ones are you going to keep that are small? You can only choose about 3.

Agree on this 100 %. 

[FredJohnson]

But is he gritty?

He'll have to earn ice time by playing on the 4th line.

(sarcasm...mostly)

Edited July 22 by FredJohnson
Sarcasm

[Citizen Strife]

18 minutes ago, FredJohnson said:

But is he gritty?

He'll have to earn ice time by playing on the 4th line.

(sarcasm...mostly)

Hey, if a 4th liner can score 10-15 goals, I'm all for it.

Edited July 22 by Citizen Strife

[Pewterschmidt]

17 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Beckman refuse to put on the weight. His last call up he was picking pucks out of the crowd instead of going in an battling. We can't have any winger doing that type of thing. Even Rossi goes into the crowd now and digs out pucks with his better stick.

This is a great analysis and a finer point of the game that separates an nhl’r from a highly skilled journeyman ahl’r

 and its less about size/weight than how much ‘dog’ is in the player (ie Marchand), but size helps no question.   Hopefully our scouts are getting better at identifying this quality, and bypassing the flashy player (Beckman) and selecting the future nhl’r (ie Stankoven) who got that dog in ‘im. 

Edited July 22 by Pewterschmidt

[WIWild]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

and its less about size/weight than how much ‘dog’ is in the player (ie Marchand), but size helps no question.   Hopefully our scouts are getting better at identifying this quality, and bypassing the flashy player (Beckman) and selecting the future nhl’r (ie Stankoven) who got that dog in ‘im. 

true, true. This is no doubt on the player. However, since our 'prospects' drafted after #15 in the 1st aren't blazing a trail to the N, how much of that is on the 'development program' (specifically going through the A, those in the KHL are doing better)? How do we know they have the right mentorship, that they're hearing the right things - you need more time in the gym to get to the N, that ain't gonna work in the N - dig in those corners, you need to work on what you do away from the puck, ... seem pretty happy with the drafts, not so much with the results - if all of these players are stalling, maybe it ain't them.

[mnfaninnc]

54 minutes ago, WIWild said:

How do we know they have the right mentorship, that they're hearing the right things - you need more time in the gym to get to the N, that ain't gonna work in the N - dig in those corners, you need to work on what you do away from the puck, ... seem pretty happy with the drafts, not so much with the results - if all of these players are stalling, maybe it ain't them.

This has been my take throughout until I really started thinking about it. These men need to be motivated by themselves, not necessarily by someone forcing them to do something. Essentially, in this particular part, the strength and conditioning of players is more of a cheerleader position. The coaches have the tools to build these guys, but the players need to notice this themselves. 

You want a guy like Mikey Milne to come in, ask for help, tell the coach "I need to add 20 lbs. of muscle, now what?" I know it sounds stupid for the kids to have to ask for help, but that's part of being a pro. They have to ask themselves "what can I do better?" The regular coach might say, you need to enter the corners hard and come out with the puck, or, you need to be able to get the defender going one way and cut back the other while he's still off balance. It's then up to the player to seek out help.

Isn't it interesting that last offseason we heard how Rossi packed on 15 lbs. of muscle and Addison had 4% bodyfat? Look at how that turned out. The previous year we saw video of Rossi working out and it was all about the conditioning, not the strength. He was in the A. This stuff isn't rocket science, but it's also not really pleasant unless you've got a bunch of guys dedicated to do it. Does Andy Ness come down to Iowa once in awhile to help with skating? Someone's got to help them with skating!

Is it the right way, or should maybe the 1st 2 years of this be mandatory? I don't know the answer to it, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought the logic behind it is a weeding out process. How strong is their dream? The guys who make themselves are the guys I want on my team.

[Up North Guy]

1 hour ago, WIWild said:

true, true. This is no doubt on the player. However, since our 'prospects' drafted after #15 in the 1st aren't blazing a trail to the N, how much of that is on the 'development program' (specifically going through the A, those in the KHL are doing better)? How do we know they have the right mentorship, that they're hearing the right things - you need more time in the gym to get to the N, that ain't gonna work in the N - dig in those corners, you need to work on what you do away from the puck, ... seem pretty happy with the drafts, not so much with the results - if all of these players are stalling, maybe it ain't them.

The Wild better figure this out quickly.

[Pewterschmidt]

39 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

These men need to be motivated by themselves, not necessarily by someone forcing them to do something. Essentially, in this particular part, the strength and conditioning of players is more of a cheerleader position.

Agree 100%.  The dog gotta be in the kid when he's drafted.  It's either there or it's not.  You can make the player 6 inches taller and 30 lbs heavier but he's still a pussy cat on the inside (ie: Jordan Greenway)

[WIWild]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Agree 100%.  The dog gotta be in the kid when he's drafted.  It's either there or it's not.  You can make the player 6 inches taller and 30 lbs heavier but he's still a pussy cat on the inside (ie: Jordan Greenway)

I also agree, but not 100%. Even Nuke LaLoosh had to be told by somebody "The rose goes in front, big guy"...without that, where would he be? He never would have asked.

[FredJohnson]

4 hours ago, WIWild said:

how much of that is on the 'development program' (specifically going through the A, those in the KHL are doing better)? How do we know they have the right mentorship, that they're hearing the right things

This^^^

[mnfaninnc]

5 hours ago, Up North Guy said:

The Wild better figure this out quickly.

Could this be a reason why Matt Hendricks is now in charge of the player development?

[B1GKappa97]

On 7/21/2024 at 9:24 PM, mnfaninnc said:

So, Nashville just signed Saros to a long extension and he's off the goalie market. They also have signed a backup. This makes Yaroslav Askarov now trade bait as he's blocked.

What would an Askarov-The Wall battery look like? If you listen to Trotz's comments on what it would take to pry him loose, we have the ammo: young forward or defensive prospect. 

This would excite me, I'd love to see both goalies as our battery for a few years. I think it could work. What would need to happen? Fleury retire, Goose get moved and let the 2 young goalies take over. At some point you'd have to choose 1, but oh what a ride that could be.

I really liked Askarov's profile in his draft year, and allegedly the Wild did try to move back into the 1st round to get him that year. From what I've seen on other comment boards, I believe he's developed a habit of choking in big moments though (starting with the WJC), so probably not a future playoff starter until he gets over that. 

I can't imagine Nashville would be too eager to give him over to us though but it would be an exciting mix of styles in goal versus if we get a future Gus-Wallstedt tandem which is basically two of the same robotic Swedes.