The Bruins have made another trade, and once again it's with Anaheim. Boston has traded Danton Heinen to the Ducks for Nick Ritchie, the team announced Monday afternoon.
On the surface, the trade looks like a bit of a lateral move. Both are left wings and their numbers over the last two seasons are fairly similar -- Heinen has 18 goals and 38 assists in 135 games since the start of the 2018-19 season, while Ritchie has 17 goals and 33 assists in 101 games during that time.
But Ritchie brings something different to the table -- he's not as good a defensive player as Heinen, but he's a bigger (6-foot-2, 234 pounds), more physical forward who should get to the dirty areas around the net more. Given the occasional concerns about the Bruins' physicality and the fact that Heinen has fallen out of favor recently, the move makes sense.
Ritchie has a $1.4 million cap hit this season and $2 million next season, while Heinen is on the books for $2.825 million this season and $2.775 million next year, so the Bruins save some money too.
The #NHLBruins traded 24 y/o F Heinen (Yr 1/2 $2.8M Cap Hit -RFA) to #LetsgoDucks for 24 y/o W Nick Ritchie (Yr 2/3 $1.5M Cap Hit -RFA).#BOS reduces Cap Hit $1.3M Annually ($287K this year)Ritchie: 8G 19P 41GPHeinen: 7G 22P 58GPhttps://t.co/x2j4bcGQn2
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) February 24, 2020Nick Ritchie, 24, is the younger brother of Brett Ritchie, who started the season with the Bruins but is now with AHL Providence after struggling and being put on waivers.
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