Ryder Ritchie, F/Prince Albert
For many of these prospects, the first question we ask ourselves is whether they can produce. The players listed in the previous four slides have enjoyed monster production akin to the league they played in, but you can’t say the same for Ryder Ritchie.
He had just 44 points and 19 goals in 47 regular season games this season, which isn’t a huge point-per-game increase from 2022-23, when he had 55 and 20 goals in 61 contests. Ritchie did, however, recently snag seven points and three goals in five playoff games, but his overall productivity is lacking.
However, let’s keep in mind that he has a later birthday as he won’t turn 18 until August, so there is still a lot of untapped potential and experience for him. His size also doesn’t jump out as it does with the other prospects, so this is a raw, high-potential talent who still produced solid numbers for the Prince Albert Raiders.
He’s another long-term developmental piece for Steve Yzerman, but the versatile forward could see that massive uptick in his game next season with an encore the following year. At that point, hordes of Red Wings fans will appreciate the high reward factor a player like Ryder Ritchie offers.
(Statistics provided by Elite Prospects)