During his time in the NHL, Nick Ritchie has bounced around with four different teams, but this season, the 27-year-old has been finding some success with the Arizona Coyotes. Now, he has been traded and in a deal that included his brother. Nick Ritchie and Troy Stecher we dealt from Arizona to the Calgary Flames for Brett Ritchie and Connor Mackey right before the 3 o’clock deadline.
This is not going to be a move that moves the need for either when it comes to the Ritchie brothers, but Stecher is defensive depth for the Flames who are on the edge of fighting for a Western Conference wild card spot. Earlier in the day, Calgary got Dryden Hunt from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
What Calgary is Getting in Ritchie & Stecher
Nick Ritchie has spent most of his time in the NHL as a bottom-six forward and this season in 58 games, he has nine goals and 12 assists in Arizona. Nearly half of his production has come on the power play where he has four goals and six assists. He is six goals shy of his career-high that he reached with 15 in 2020-21 with the Boston Bruins.
Selected 10th overall in the 2014 Entry Draft by the Anaheim Ducks, he was traded at the 2020 trade deadline to the Bruins for Danton Heinen. It was the second trade between the teams as three days earlier, the Ducks send Ondrej Kase to Boston. He struggled at times during his time in Boston under former coach Bruce Cassidy and found himself on the fourth line in the 2021 playoffs.
Following the 2020-21 season, Nick Ritchie was not given a qualifying offer by the Bruins and he became a free agent and signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He struggled in Toronto in 33 games with two goals and nine points and was traded with an unconditional draft pick to Arizona for Ryan Dzingel and Ilya Lyubushkin on Feb. 19, 2022. This season in Arizona, he’s tied for ninth in scoring playing in the bottom six on the third line. Adding the 6-foot-3, 236-pound left wing adds a physical presence in the bottom of the lineup and a scoring threat. He is in the final year of a two-year deal he signed with the Maple Leafs last season and carries a $2.25 million cap hit. He is an unrestricted free agent (UFA) this summer.
Related: 2023 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker
Stecher has played in all 61 Coyotes’ games this season with seven assists and will be an unrestricted free agent following the season. The 28-year-old was averaging 16:59 a night in Arizona and Calgary will be his fourth team. Aside from the Coyotes, he’s played for the Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, and Los Angeles Kings.
Arizona Gets Another Ritchie
One Ritchie goes out the door with Nick and another one comes in with Brett. At 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Brett plays a similar game as Nick, physically, and gets to the dirty areas to cause havoc. This season he has six goals and eight points in 34 games. Brett has played in 375 career games with the Dallas Stars, Bruins, and Flames with 48 goals and 32 assists. Mackey has two goals and three points in 10 games this season.
Arizona sent Jakob Chychrun to the Ottawa Senators on March 1 and Shayne Gostisbehere that same day in Bill Armstrong’s active deadline. The Coyotes will look toward the upcoming draft as they continue to go through a rebuild in the tough Central Division.
