BOLTON — Cam Neely was candid when asked about offseason needs for the Bruins back in late June — just days after Boston came up just one game short of a Stanley Cup title.
“What do we need moving forward or next year? Yeah, well, obviously I know it’s been talked about at length about another top-six forward, so we’ll see where that ends up,” Neely said, adding: “I think our bottom six was pretty strong this year, so if we can strengthen in the immediate future our top six, you know, that’s something we’d like to try and do. We’ve talked about that for a couple years now.”
Even with David Krejci matching his career-high in points last season with 73 over 81 games, the veteran pivot was not granted much in terms of consistency with his linemates throughout the 2018-19 campaign — centering 14 different forward trios that logged at least 15 minutes of 5v5 TOI last season.
Perhaps scouring the market for a proven goal-scorer — or even dealing for an established winger like Chris Kreider — might be the move to finally put an already loaded Bruins roster over the top?
Or not. Barring any sudden transactions struck during the preseason, it would seem as though Bruce Cassidy and the B’s are set to once again roll through a carousel of wingers to Krejci's right throughout training camp — desperately looking for the right fit to compliment their playmaking center.
While Karson Kuhlman — who generated a mind-boggling 7.00 goals for per 60 minutes rate with Krejci and Jake DeBrusk last season — might stand as the early favorite once camp opens on Thursday, Cassidy did note that one free-agent pickup could put himself at the front of the line when it comes to vying for a spot on Krejci's line.
"We're going to use different guys there," Cassidy said of the top-six vacancy. "Just like you mix guys around. I wouldn't read too much into the lines right away. We've got some guys that will compete with (Kuhlman). Obviously the first name that comes to mind, Brett Ritchie, a big guy that we brought in that's played in the league. Then you got the (Peter) Cehlarik's of the world, you've got (Anders) Bjork, who's doing well at the rookie camp.
"So we'll look at different guys that first week. So it's too early to say which guys will stand out. That's why you have training camp, but we know what (Kuhlman) can do there, at least in a short sample size in a tough environment against tough competition, so that's a plus for him."
Kuhlman might be a bit of an unproven commodity with just 19 total NHL games under his belt, but the numbers aren't exactly all too promising when taking a closer look at Ritchie's production in his final season with the Dallas Stars.
Signing with Boston on just a one-year, $1 million contract back on July 1, Ritchie's value has fallen quite a bit since the power forward potted 16 goals in Dallas during the 2016-17 regular season.
Last year, the 26-year-old winger appeared in 53 games with Dallas, tallying just four goals and six total points while accruing 57 penalty minutes. On a Dallas club that ranked second in the NHL in goals allowed per game at 2.55, Ritchie still found himself out on the ice for 17 5v5 goals against and a minus-76 differential in terms of shot attempts (a 45.41 CF%) over 466 minutes of 5v5 TOI.
When looking at excess shot rates in the offensive zone, it's clear to see that Dallas' offensive chances dried up when Ritchie was out on the ice last season, falling way below the league average right around the slot and near the crease — not exactly a great look for a big body like Ritchie who should be doing most of his damage down low.
(Dallas' shot rates, especially in Grade-A areas around the opposing net, rise above the league average once again when Ritchie is not on the ice).
Based on these numbers, it's a bit curious as to where exactly Ritchie fits on this roster, especially as a potential top-six option next to Krejci and DeBrusk. But speaking last month at a Bruins Fan Fest event in Leominster, Don Sweeney did note that Ritchie's value with this Bruins club could be maximized if slotted next to more capable playmakers.
"Brett is an interesting case," Sweeney said. "Two years removed, he had 16 goals. Played up in the lineup with (Tyler) Seguin and (Jamie) Benn a lot. Big, big body. Right shot. Goes to the hard areas of the ice. When he’s on his game, he’s able to occupy that space, get that shot off."
Sure enough, when looking back at his ineffective 2018-19 season, Ritchie was rarely put into much of a spot to succeed on a top-heavy Dallas forward corps.
In total, Ritchie did not log more than 40 minutes of 5v5 TOI with any forward combination last season, spending most of his minutes with a hodgepodge coalescence of Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz. Yikes.
As Sweeney said, during Ritchie's best season in 2016-17, Ritchie spent 138:52 of 5v5 TOI alongside Seguin and 66:34 with Benn. And even with just 40.76 of his faceoffs coming in the offensive zone, Ritchie still found himself as near the top of the league when it came to shot contributors — albeit in a smaller sample size.
(Perhaps playing extended minutes on the second and third lines helped his production, but Ritchie was ranked in the 100th percentile in 2016-17 when it comes to shot attempts per 60 minutes of play.)
So perhaps, if given a few games to work alongside Krejci and DeBrusk, Ritchie could prove to be a great value pickup for Boston, with the forward joining a long line of big-bodied wingers that have found plenty of success while working alongside No. 46.
Similar to how another power forward in Tom Wilson has now thrived in a top-six role with the Capitals despite starting out in a fourth-line, grinder spot, Ritchie believes he has the tools to follow a similar path if he can spark some chemistry up top.
“Tom Wilson has done well," Ritchie said Monday. "He’s been put in a spot. He grinded it out on the fourth line for quite awhile. He got a chance with the skill guys. He plays hard, he does it all. Like I said before, I want to be versatile, I want to be looked upon — I don’t want to be a specialty guy. I want to be able to a little bit of everything. Definitely stick to my strengths, which is that style of game. Winning battles and being one of the stronger, more tougher to play against guys on the ice. I don’t really set numbers and goals as much as trying to take it more game to game.
He added: “You grow up seeing the Big Bad Bruins and it’s a bigger market than I was used to in Dallas, which is exciting. There’s a lot of buzz around the team. It’s a good team, they’re competitive every year and like I said before, the winning culture and playing against them all the time, that’s just the feel you get, so it’s definitely exciting.”
Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick, Corsica, Corey Sznajder, Sean Tierney and HockeyViz.