Brett Ritchie clears waivers, will report to P-Bruins
Dec 12, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Brett Ritchie (18) skates with the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period at Amalie Arena. (Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
Brett Ritchie will trade the B on his sweater in for a P, as the 6-foot-4 forward will report to the Providence Bruins after going unclaimed on waivers on Thursday morning.
Signed to a one-year, $1 million contract last July, Ritchie never quite seemed to find his fit with the Bruins — Ritchie wasn’t skilled enough to hack it with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk on Boston’s second line and he never quite gelled with Charlie Coyle as a formidable one-two on the third line — and had been on what felt like borrowed time for weeks.
A physical player but not exactly what the Bruins were looking for or needed, things seemed to hit a boiling point when the Bruins failed to dish out some revenge for Jackets forward Emil Bemstrom’s concussion-inducing hit on Tuukka Rask this past Tuesday, and the 26-year-old Ritchie was waived the next day.
But Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy wanted to stress that Ritchie’s move to the waiver wire (and subsequent move down to the AHL) had nothing to do with what the B’s did or didn’t do on Tuesday night in Columbus.
“His overall play since we signed him has been inconsistent,” Cassidy said of Ritchie. “We feel that Brett has had some good games, done some of the things we asked or expected, to help us win. Other times, we had to push him to get there. The timing of some of our guys getting healthy has something to do with it.”
Ritchie totaled two goals and six points, along with 89 hits, in 27 games with the B’s this season.
