Dallas Stars: Brett Ritchie Needs To Be Protected In Expansion Draft

The NHL Expansion Draft is less than two weeks away and the Dallas Stars still have some decisions to make on which players they will protect. One forward who has definitely earned his spot on the protection list is forward Brett Ritchie. Here’s why.

There’s not a lot of hockey left in the 2016-17 season. After the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators play game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight, there could very well only be one game remaining in the year.

That’s pretty crazy to think about, especially if you are a general manager in the NHL. That’s because immediately after the Cup is hoisted by its newest owner, a jam-packed month of June will officially ensue for the entire league.

Every team has a lot on their plate that must be broken down and dealt with. The buyout period, expansion draft, entry draft, and re-signing of pending free agents all lead up to the opening of free agency on July 1.

But perhaps the biggest event that will influence how all of the other events pan out is the expansion draft. With the Vegas Golden Knights set to play their first game at the start of the upcoming 2017-18 season, their team will primarily be comprised of the 30 players that they get to pick in the 2017 Expansion Draft.

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Each current NHL team must lose one player in the draft, but have a certain number that they can protect in hopes that they won’t lose a superstar or a cornerstone piece of their franchise. And just like every other team, the Dallas Stars are going to have some tough decisions to make.

The forwards are where the majority of the debate lies. While we will dive into each section of the Stars’ protection debate and give the pros and cons for each player being considered over the next few days, today we want to focus on just the forwards (and one forward in particular).

Over the past few months, there has been plenty of speculation on who the Stars should and will protect. When it comes to the forwards, there are a few obvious options: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Jason Spezza are locks for protection. That leaves Dallas with four more spots on their list.

The debate really comes down to Cody Eakin, Antoine Roussel, and Valeri Nichushkin for the final two spots. vThat’s because second-year rookie star Radek Faksa and big winger Brett Ritchie have been assumed as the other two forwards to be protected.

While Faksa has proven his multidimensional presence to be extremely useful to the Stars, Ritchie has flown under the radar. So why is he considered an automatic protection by many?

Well, because of his breakout year in the 2016-17 season.

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Ritchie was a second-round pick of the Dallas Stars in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and has been a silent but effective asset ever since. After tallying 73 points in 106 games with the Texas Stars from 2012-14, Ritchie made his NHL debut on December 31, 2014 against the Arizona Coyotes. He scored his first goal on his first shot, and things have slowly been going up ever since.

He finished the season with Dallas in 2014-15, but spent the majority of 2015-16 back in the AHL with Texas after having wrist surgery just before the season began. He was not able to provide a large impact for Dallas, but gave Texas an added boost in their own respective season.

Then 2016-17 came around and Ritchie was slotted back in the Dallas Stars lineup. Now that it is all said and done, it’s safe to say that he was one of the Stars’ most successful forwards.

The 23-year-old finished the season with 16 goals and 24 points, both of which are career highs, in 78 games played. He was third on the team in goals (obviously behind Benn and Seguin) and led the Stars in the +/- category with an impressive +11.

It might catch you by surprise to see just how much of an impact Ritchie had on the team this season. Maybe that’s due to the team’s lack of success or the fact that he played limited minutes (just under 13 minutes a game on average, which makes his numbers even more impressive).

He definitely played a quite role in 2016-17, but ended up being one of the Stars’ most dynamic forwards.

He’s a big-bodied winger standing at 6’3 and weighing in at 215 pounds. He’s gritty, plays heavy on the forecheck, and can keep an offensive attack moving. When paired with Antoine Roussel and Radek Faksa this past year, the trio was rather threatening on the ice and never seemed to allow the puck out of the offensive end.

Ritchie’s contributions this past season were an impressive step up from his rookie season and helped solidify his spot on the Stars’ right wing.

Next: Antoine Roussel Must Be Protected At All Costs

When it comes to talking about protection, Ritchie’s name has been included regularly. His presence on the Dallas Stars’ roster is valuable and he would likely be a prime target for Vegas if left exposed. He can bring a lot to a team and he’s not even 24 yet. That’s a hard offer to pass on.

So go ahead and keep Ritchie’s name on the projected protection list. He’s earned it, after all.