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  • Wild Select Electric Winger Ryder Ritchie 45th Overall


    Image courtesy of @PARaidersHockey | Twitter
    Thomas Williams

    After the Minnesota Wild traded up and took full advantage of the Philadelphia Flyers not wanting all-around suburb defenseman Zeev Buium, they are back and ready to make some noise on Day 2.

    And boy, did they do that. With the 45th overall selection in the second round, to start Saturday, they take electric 6-foot winger out of the WHL's Prince Albert Raiders, Ryder Ritchie.

     

    While his counting stats is now all that impressive -- just 19 goals and 44 points in 47 games -- Ritchie played on the abysmal Raiders team after winning the 2022-23 WHL Rookie of the Year award. He is one of the flashiest, pure-skilled wingers available this year. A winger that can go through defenders with top-tier shooting and puckhandling.

    Don't just take it from us, though, our pals over at Elite Prospects breaks down his games:

    "By pure speed, Ritchie’s not a burner, but his functional pace – the speed at which he makes plays – is among the draft’s highest. At full speed, he dangles opponents, slips passes through them, and shoots in stride. He combines give-and-goes with crossovers and east-west movement, constantly shifting the defence and creating gaps. Just when opponents think they’ve figured him out, he cuts back and finds the trailer. Ritchie’s both a scoring and playmaking threat, thanks to mechanical refinement and skills in both facets. His shot, in particular, is a constant threat. There are zero tells inside his release, transferring his weight suddenly and hiding his blade the whole time. He adapts to tricky passes and instantly fires them, even under pressure." -- 2024 Elite Prospect Draft Guide

    Yeah, we like that.

    Ritchie was ranked anywhere from 22nd overall to 37th overall in the public scouting sphere, so this feels like an incredible win from where we are sitting.

    Overall, the Wild seem to be betting on high-end skill and players to then work themselves enough. Buium and Ritchie were projected to go above where the Wild ended up selecting them -- clearly going for the long-term build and consistent injection into this current roster.

    Things are exciting in Minnesota.

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    This is a solid pick but Artamonov would have been insane and he was there for us. He scored the 6th most points in a u18 season in the khl between Kaprizov and Daniil But. He was also the first 17 year old in KHL history to have a 4 point game. He has insane hockey smarts and is slightly shorter but built like a brick shit house at 5’11 200lbs

    I think Richie was actually hurt during the season and that’s why his points total were a little low but he actually won the Whl rookie of the year last season. The team he was on was pretty bad too. Richie was thought to go in the first round by a lot of mock drafts so this is a good pick. He’s 6’1 176lbs 

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    Ritchie is cool. Great name!

    Hoping Hagen Burrows falls to MN. That'd be cool. He had nice USHL numbers, kinds doubt he lasts til 110th.

    Like big defenseman Jimmy Dodig too. Sandpaper & size combo. He's probably available for the MN connection. 

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    6 minutes ago, Protec said:

    Ritchie is cool. Great name!

    Hoping Hagen Burrows falls to MN. That'd be cool. He had nice USHL numbers, kinds doubt he lasts til 110th.

    Like big defenseman Jimmy Dodig too. Sandpaper & size combo. He's probably available for the MN connection. 

    Didn’t know anything about this guy but he looks like a stud from what I read.

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    Seems like a really nice draft for Guerin and Brackett this year. Hopefully these guys develop the strength necessary to compete in the NHL in the near future.

     

    Ritchie is the son of former NHL player Byron Ritchie, who played for the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks in his eight season, 300+ game career.

    Edited by Imyourhuckleberry
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    14 minutes ago, Protec said:

    Still available I think, the MN boys.

    We traded back with Boston but I don’t know what we got in return. Mr hockey would be nice!

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    16 minutes ago, Protec said:

    Still available I think, the MN boys.

    They took Aron kivijaru the 5’9 dmen who was picked to go 1st in this draft a year and a half ago. Ffs we need size….how does the Wild not understand that?

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    1 hour ago, Mateo3xm said:

    Tampa got him

    Rats, I see that now. Had stuff to do and missed it today. We took a little Euro over the MN kid. Brackett is such an assbag sometimes.

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    5 hours ago, Protec said:

    Brackett is such an assbag sometimes.

    It's because of his laser focus on the puck movers. It's like he's got blinders on when he sees them. It's easy to pick out his tendencies. 

    Also, with Guerin, it seems like the pick he really likes tossing around is the 3rd rounder. For Fletcher, it was the 2nd rounder, so I guess we're improving. 

    Guerin does need to sit down with Brackett and reshuffle the priorities. He's got to knock down the strong skating a bit, and bring up the size factor some. I think if Brackett had the opportunity, we'd have 6 Ryan Murphys in the lineup. Yes they skate great and can really move the puck, but how do they defend? (suddenly we see a deer in the headlights look on Judd's face) We all know the bigger guys aren't skating well now. How did they skate prior to their growth spurt? How long ago did they get this spurt? Is it fixable? It seems he doesn't want to be bothered with those questions.

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    Ritchie looks like a pretty good player. Reminds me a little of Boldy. Wearing #21, I thought he looks a little like Robertson from Dallas. 

    Based on rankings, MN got a bunch of top 10, 20, and 30 range guys. From that perspective and beginning at 12th overall they got really good selections, plus Lauko upgrade. 

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