Ryder Ritchie

April 2024 – Ryder Ritchie is a conundrum. Ritchie is a dynamic, high-energy forward, with plenty of raw skill, but never seemed able to fully put it together.  Ritchie is a highly effective puck carrier with space and a head of steam but can get shut down trying to do it all himself. He’s a slippery puckhandler but often bobbles pucks off the first touch. He’s got a cannon of a shot but settles for long-distance chances. He makes smart reads and puts the puck in dangerous areas but can take his time doing so and telegraphs his intentions. He shows great energy on the forecheck but gets overzealous and allows an escape. Ritchie’s floor is high as a middle-six transition target with energy, but there’s also plenty of reason to believe that with a patient approach and a return to basics that there is some untapped upside. Luke Sweeney (April Rankings: 45th)

November 2023 – Ryder Ritchie looks to be the third WHL player off the board this year as another quick, skilled forward. Ritchie has very quick feet and hands with excellent puckhandling posture, making him an excellent puck carrier. Especially when given time and space to attack downhill, Ritchie is particularly adept at using those hands to find the middle of the ice for high-quality chances. Ritchie is also an effective positionally-focused player, using great puck spacing and support in all three zones and prioritizing strong body positioning before establishing puck possession. The next steps for Ritchie will be improving his standstill explosiveness and checking lanes (which hinders his ability to win puck battles) and adding more layers of deception to his playmaking. Ritchie has a good read of where his options are but too often telegraphs his intentions, making many of his passes unnecessarily risky. If Ritchie can improve in these areas and continue to develop, he could challenge Catton and Lindstrom for a top WHL draft-eligible. Luke Sweeney (November Rankings: 17th Overall)