Bruins place Brett Ritchie on waivers: What is next move for Boston up front?

A day removed from a disheartening loss to the Blue Jackets, the Bruins are switching things up with their roster.

The team announced Wednesday afternoon that it has waived winger Brett Ritchie for the purpose of assignment to the Providence Bruins — with no corresponding move made, for now. 

Ritchie, who signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Bruins back in July, appeared in 27 games with Boston this season, scoring two goals and posting six total points while recording 21 penalty minutes. 

At the start of the 2019-20 campaign, Ritchie was viewed as one of the top candidates for the Bruins’ vacant top-six wing spot, logging 44:07 of 5v5 ice time with David Krejci. 

However, even with 56.00% of that duo’s faceoffs coming in the offensive zone, both Krejci and Ritchie struggled to click, with Boston only tallying one 5v5 goal (and surrendering two) during that 44:07 stretch of action. 

Over the last month, Ritchie has often traded games with David Backes in the bottom-six, with Ritchie finding some success as of late on a third line with Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen. 

However, with more promising options available down in the Bruins’ prospect pipeline, the Bruins ultimately felt like a change was necessary. 

BSJ Analysis: 

By waiving Ritchie, the Bruins can now opt to go two ways with whatever player they call up from Providence. 

So what’s it going to be — skill or snarl?



In the wake of a loss in which Boston failed to muster any sort of spirited response after Tuukka Rask was concussed, the gut reaction was that Ritchie’s demotion was a retort to the forward’s inability to throw his 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame around as Tuesday’s game in Columbus progressed. 

To be fair, that responsibility doesn’t solely fall on Ritchie (one of six Bruins to collect a fighting major this season) and is more of an indictment on the entire roster for failing to answer after a team took liberties against their netminder.

But if Boston wants to add a bit more thump to the lineup, the logical subtraction is Ritchie, who has still left a bit to be desired when it comes to serving as a viable power forward.

Two names that come to mind if Boston wants to inject some toughness up front are Anton Blidh and Trent Frederic. 

The book has been out on Blidh, 24, for quite some time now. He may not be flashy, but the Swedish forward plays a simple, hard game that could warrant a look in Boston’s bottom-six unit. He has appeared in 21 games with Boston over the previous three seasons — dishing out 50 hits during that stretch.

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Blidh’s 2019-20 season was railroaded in the final weeks of training camp, as the forward was sidelined for four months after undergoing surgery on his right shoulder. But he returned to Providence back at the start of January and has appeared in four games with the club, scoring goals in back-to-back games last weekend. 

Frederic is an interesting case. As we saw last season when Frederic walloped Brandon Tanev in his NHL debut, Frederic is not afraid to drop the gloves when necessary — and would already stand as one of the more feared skaters on Boston’s roster if he earns another shot up with the big club. 

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The 21-year-old forward has continued to pummel the competition this year down in Providence, leading all AHL players in penalty minutes with 102 — 20 more than the second-place holder in Charlotte's Max McCormick. After a bit of a slow start, Frederic is also starting to see his offensive game turn the corner in what stands as his second full season with the Baby B’s — racking up 15 points over his last 22 outings. 

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Frederic would certainly serve a role on this Bruins team, but much like last year, the injection of toughness might not be worth the cost of limiting Frederic’s development. While Frederic could thrive as a bottom-six thumper, his stint up with Boston last year was largely a waste, as he only averaged 9:24 of ice time per game.

Perhaps another year of development will allow Frederic to earn more reliable minutes in 2020, but if Frederic is only going to be brought up to throw some punches and skate for under 10 minutes a night — I’m not sure how much that helps anyone in the grand scheme of things. 

Of course, if Boston would rather add a player with a bit more potential as an offensive catalyst, replacing Ritchie with a winger like Karson Kuhlman and Zach Senyshyn also makes plenty of sense.

Fully recovered from a fractured leg that sidelined him for over two months, Kuhlman has now skated in four games with Providence, scoring a goal and adding three points during that stretch. Even if the winger failed to tally a point in eight games with Boston before his injury back in October, Kuhlman did provide a bit of a spark thanks to his speed. 

He may not be the player that generated an absurd 7.00 5v5 goals per 60 minutes rate next to David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk last season, but at the very least, Kuhlman is a solid, two-way player with a knack for generating quality chances thanks to his ability to get to loose pucks in Grade-A areas of the ice. 

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Senyshyn only appeared in four games with the Bruins before a lower-body injury sidelined him earlier this year, but the speedy winger looked to be a natural fit next to Coyle on Boston’s third line — with Boston holding a 2-0 edge in 5v5 goals and 11-5 advantage in shots on goal during their 16:22 of 5v5 ice time. 

Whichever angle that Boston opts to take when it comes to adding to this current roster, it will be well-warranted. Given the low risk involved with Ritchie’s contract, the Bruins can afford to start over when it comes to finding another viable bottom-six contributor — starting from within. 

Thankfully for Don Sweeney and Co., there appears to be a bevy of worthy candidates.