The Bruins announced today that they have signed forward Brett Ritchie to a one-year contract worth $1 million. Ritchie, 26, is a right-wing who recorded four goals and two assists in 53 games for the Dallas Stars last season. He also played in one playoff game for them but did not register any points in it. He was drafted in the second round (44th overall) in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Stars and is leaving the only NHL team he has ever known over his five-year career. I don’t mind this signing, but I also don’t love it as I think $1 million was a bit much given his minimal offensive production last season. He’s a big body, listed at 6’4” and 220 pounds, and is known as a physical winger. He appears to be a replacement for Noel Acciari, who signed a three-year deal with the Florida Panthers worth $5 million ($1.67 AAV) today. I’d rather have Acciari than Ritchie, but I would not have wanted the Bruins to pay that price for him so I’m glad they moved on. I’m really not sure where this signing was necessary though, as they already have Sean Kuraly, Chris Wagner, and Joakim Nordstrom as fourth-line guys under contract for next season. They also signed Par Lindholm as a fourth-line guy for less, which I think is a better signing, but more on him in another post. Ritchie is fairly slow, although the speed of Kuraly may help offset that, but has a nice shot and wins a lot of puck battles. He never lived up to his potential as a second-round pick but has been fine in his role as a fourth-liner for Dallas these past few seasons, and hopefully, he can keep that up in Boston. It would be ideal for him to chip in more offensively as well, which is possible given the fact that Boston typically has an excellent fourth-line that tends to boost the production of the players on it. Overall, I don’t mind the signing as depth never hurt anyone, and I’m happy it’s just a one-year deal as that allows the Bruins to quickly move on from him if he isn’t a good fit. However, I wish they had paid him a less than $1 million as I don’t think he’s quite worth that, but I suppose it could be worse, Sweeney could’ve gone out and way overpaid for a player on a long-term deal today.
Welcome to Boston, Brett!
Hockey Addict 