Dallas Stars: Last Year’s Grade, Next Year’s Guess: Brett Ritchie
By Summer LeBel
It’s the eighth installment in our continuing series of Dallas Stars player grades and today’s featured player is right winger Brett Ritchie.
In his second full season up with the Dallas Stars, Ritchie struggled to figure out exactly what he needed to do.
Last Season
Brett Ritchie’s 2017-18 Grade: C-
More from Blackout Dallas
- Dallas Stars Traverse City Tournament: Who had great performances?
- Grushnikov and Stankoven lead Dallas Stars to 6-3 win over Columbus
- Dallas Stars prospects look to wrap up tournament with a win
- Burn the tapes: Dallas Stars prospects lose 5-1 to Toronto Maple Leafs
- Dallas Stars look to continue success today against the Maple Leafs
Ritchie bounced around a lot last season between lines, but he never really managed to click anywhere. He had only 7 goals and 14 points and certainly wasn’t helping the lack of scoring for the team.
He was getting playing time on the power play, which should’ve helped his offensive numbers, but the majority of his points came at even strength. He was alright on the power play, but not at the level fans have been expecting from him by this point.
One of the positives about Ritchie’s game is his physical game. He was second only to Stephen Johns in hits with 172, but it didn’t make up for his lack of production. He also had the best relative Corsi on the team at even strength so his possession numbers are good, but it doesn’t matter in the long run if he can’t find a way to improve his offensive game.
Next Season
If Ritchie can keep his possession numbers high and get some pucks in the net, he can certainly redeem himself from his not-so-stellar year last season. Realistically, his possession won’t stay that high, but he could definitely improve on his offensive game. In 2016-17, he had 16 goals. If he could find a way to score at least that again or even go over 20, he’ll be in a much better position going into next summer’s contract negotiation.
Over the three seasons before last year, Ritchie was at 0.29 points per game. Last year, he dropped down to 0.20. Neither mark is incredibly impressive, but it’s reasonable to think he could bounce back to at least that mark and potentially higher. Being at 0.30 would put him on pace for roughly 25 points, which isn’t great but it’s at least an improvement over this year.
Next. Last Year’s Grade, Next Year’s Guess: Ben Bishop. dark
Tomorrow’s featured player is Remi Elie, who surprised a lot of fans when he proved himself ready for the NHL instead of spending the year in the AHL. Be sure to check out his grade and see if you agree with it.