Editor’s note: This is the sixth part of a series previewing individual players projected to make the Dallas Stars roster heading into the 2017-18 season.
Brett Ritchie started to scratch the surface of his NHL potential last season.
The right wing had 16 goals, good for fourth on the team, and was a plus-11 on a Dallas Stars team that on a whole had a minus-39 goal differential (fifth-worst in the NHL).
He had 167 shots, third on the team behind Tyler Seguin (301) and Jamie Benn (201). While Ritchie scored on 9.6 percent of his shots, which was above the team average of 8.86 percent, a handful of scouts think the forward can do a bit more in the future.
“He’s in the right spots and he has a great shot, there are just times he doesn’t finish chances that he should,” a Central Division scout said. “He’s got the makings of a very good goal scorer in this league, he just needs to be a bit more of a finisher.”
So how can a player become more of a finisher?
“It depends, sometimes it’s a luck thing. Sometimes it’s just a confidence thing,” the scout said. “There are lots of great shots in the league, and he has one of them, it’s just finding a way to take full advantage of it. I think (Ritchie) can be a player like that, he’s shown flashes of it.”
If Ritchie can become a so-called “finisher” it would be a key asset this season. Early roster prognostications, while premature, have Ritchie likely playing on the third-line with Radek Faksa and 25-plus goals from the big winger isn’t a far-fetched idea.
Ritchie could also earn expanded power play time this season, which would only boost scoring numbers for the 24-year-old.
“He could be a power player specialist, he’s big and shoots the puck well,” an Eastern Conference scout said. “I think he’ll work well with (new assistant coach Stu Barnes) system, and I wouldn’t be opposed to putting him on the first unit.”
While there could be a boon for Ritchie’s offensive numbers, players don’t thrive under Ken Hitchcock unless they commit to his defensive system. Luckily for the Stars, Ritchie’s work in the defensive zone has greatly improved over the past two seasons.
During the 2015-16 season, when Ritchie split an injury-plagued campaign between the NHL and AHL, he was a liability at times on defense. Last season, Ritchie’s first full NHL season, he started to better grasp defensive positioning and could be trusted from time to time on key defensive situations.
“That was a big thing for me,” Ritchie said at the end of this past season. “You look at a lot of players in this league, and the ones that have long careers are the ones that commit defensively. I’m trying to get better at that, and I think I’m moving in the right direction.”
Overall the Stars are excited about what Ritchie can do this season.
“Brett is a big, physical presence who also possesses the ability to score,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said. “We feel that he has just scratched the surface in regards to his ability and that he will continue to elevate his game.”
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