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Toronto Maple Leafs Working to Find Nick Ritchie a New Home

By Jeremy Ridgewell |
TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 16: Nick Ritchie #20 of the Toronto Maple Leafs waits for a faceoff against the Nashville Predators during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on November 16, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Predators 3-0.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 16: Nick Ritchie #20 of the Toronto Maple Leafs waits for a faceoff against the Nashville Predators during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on November 16, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Predators 3-0.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
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By now, it is no surprise that the Toronto Maple Leafs are shopping forward Nick Ritchie.

After a few tries in different spots in the lineup, Ritchie could never find any consistency. That led to him getting placed on waivers and added to the Toronto Maple Leafs taxi squad.

Once the NHL removed the taxi squad, Ritchie got sent down to the Toronto Marlies in the AHL. Obviously, this is not where Ritchie wants to spend the rest of the 2021-22 season.

Having him in the AHL does save the  Leafs a little bit of cap space, but they would rather trade him and have his full $2.5 million cap hit. That $2.5 million could help Toronto GM Kyle Dubas add to his team before the March 21st trade deadline.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Nick Ritchie

During his 32 thoughts segment on Saturday, hockey insider Elliotte Friedman from Sportsnet reported that the Leafs were working on a move for Ritchie.

 He also reported that if Toronto were to buyout Ritchie’s contract, it would cost them $300,000 against next season’s cap. So if the Toronto Maple Leafs need to retain any of Ritchie’s salary to make a deal happen, they don’t want to retain more than that amount.

Although there is always the buyout option, it is not the best option. According to the buyout calculator on puckpedia.com, the Toronto Maple Leafs would have Ritchie accounting for $300,000 against the salary cap in the 2022-23 season but $1.1 million in the 2023-24 season.

There are a few teams that could benefit from having Ritchie on their team. For some teams, he could be some added depth for the playoffs. For others, he could be a desperately needed roster player for next season.

(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Toronto Maple Leafs Could Trade Ritchie To These Playoff Teams

Here are a few teams that are all currently in a playoff spot that could benefit from the services of Nick Ritchie.

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are a playoff-bound team with plenty of salary-cap space. They might be willing to offer Toronto a mid-round draft pick for a chance to have Ritchie in their lineup for the playoffs.

Most of their cap space for next season will be used to re-sign RFA’s Kaapo Kakko and Alexander Georgiev. Having Ritchie’s $2 million might still fit depending on what else they plan on doing, but they might take a chance on him for this year’s playoffs and worry about next season in the summer.

Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators have even more cap space this year and next year than the Rangers do. They could easily add Nick Ritchie to their lineup for a mid-round draft pick and have plenty of salary cap left over to keep adding. Ritchie and his hard-hitting style of play might be the perfect match for “Smashville” and their fans.

Anaheim Ducks

Could the Toronto Maple Leafs find a way to trade Ritchie back to the team that drafted him? The Anaheim Ducks have a lot of cap space and are fighting to keep their playoff spot alive. They might be willing to add the hard-hitting Ritchie in hopes of keeping their playoff push alive. Depending on how Ritchie and the Ducks do in the playoffs, they can decide in the off-season if they still want him for next season.

(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Toronto Maple Leafs Could Trade Ritchie To These Non Playoff Teams

Here are a few teams that are currently not in a playoff spot that could benefit from adding Ritchie for the purpose of having him on their roster next season.

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings are one of a few teams that have a lot of roster spots to fill this off-season. They will have nine UFA’s and two RFA’s this summer. Adding Ritchie now might not help them for the rest of this season but could help them next season. Detroit also has mid-round draft picks available to send to Toronto in a deal for Ritchie.

Seattle Kraken

Like the Red Wings, the Seattle Kraken will have plenty of roster spots to fill for next season. They will have six UFA’s and six RFA’s this off-season. They might be trading some of their pending UFA’s at the March 21st trade deadline for future assets. So sending a mid-round draft pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a player they can use for the rest of this season and next season might be something Seattle looks at doing.

Arizona Coyotes

If there is one team in desperate need of roster players next season, it is the Arizona Coyotes. They will have 11 UFA’s and six RFA’s this summer. With only seven players on their main roster signed for next season, Arizona has a lot of holes to fill.

With eight draft picks in the first two rounds of the 2022 NHL draft, they can afford to send a mid-round pick to Toronto for Ritchie. Arizona is the best option for Ritchie if he wants to have plenty of playing time.

Next. Most Likely to Be Traded. dark

It is no longer a matter of if the Toronto Maple Leafs will trade Nick Ritchie, it is a matter of when and to whom. For the Maple Leafs’ sake, I hope Kyle Dubas makes the trade sooner rather than later. Toronto needs to have as much cap space as possible to add defensive depth at the trade deadline.

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