Get to Know Calum Ritchie: Centerpiece of the Nelson Trade

For those of you asleep and just waking up to the news, this story will be waiting for you. The New York Islanders traded Brock Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a huge haul, including blue-chip prospect Calum Ritchie.

Ritchie is a complete can’t-miss prospect with a minimum of top-six written all over him. From the Islanders release:

He’s NHL-ready for next season. He cracked the superpower Avalanche lineup out of training camp this year and played seven games, scoring one goal against the New York Islanders. Internationally, he wore an “A” for Canada at the World Juniors this winter.

A member of the Oshawa Generals of the OHL, he has 14 goals and 67 points in 41 games this season, leading his team.

Here’s some blurbs from The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler:

“Ritchie is the complete package and has been one of the top players in the OHL for the last two seasons (I think he has a claim as the best player in the league this year)… He’s a multifaceted playmaker

“He has also begun to fill out his frame (though his shoulder surgery did hurt a key summer for him post-draft), which has helped turn him into a diligent, relied-upon two-way player off the puck. He’s also strong in the faceoff circle and makes those around him better.”

So, the Islanders just landed a reliable two-way center with elite playmaking skills. The hope then surely would be to link his future with Cole Eiserman, who scored a hat trick tonight for Boston University. Eiserman, a skilled sniper, can now look to Ritchie as his playmaker of the next decade.