Nick Ritchie Daily Fantasy News, Rankings, Projections

Ondrej Kase didn't play his first game until November 12th, but he's amassed 19 points in 25 games including a team-leading 11 goals (tied with Pontus Aberg). He has spent some time on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell, but he is currently slated to play on the Anaheim Ducks "third" line with Nick Ritchie and Adam Henrique. Taking on an Ottawa Senators team that allows a league-worst 67.0 CA/60 and has a 43.86 CF% which also ranks 31st. Kase plays on the top power play unit but Henrique and Ritchie play on the second unit which allows for a mini-correlation there.

Ritchie finally picked up his first point of the season with an assist against Montreal over the weekend and will now have the luxury of skating alongside Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on the Duck's top forward line. Ritchie posted a respectable 28 points in 77 games during his rookie season last year, but his advanced metrics showed plenty of promise. Richie proved to be very aggressive in the offensive zone as he racked up 9.02 SOG/60 which should bode well for him with Getzlaf back to distribute the puck to his two dangerous wingers.

Ryan Kesler is going to miss the first few weeks of the season and now Patrick Eaves will also start the season in IR. This is an ideal opportunity for 21-year-old Nick Ritchie to make a name for himself and there's plenty of evidence to support his breakout season begins tonight. For instance, Ritchie's 15.75 iCF/60 was the second highest rate on this Anaheim team last season and his 54.59 xGF% was the highest among all Anaheim forwards (yes, better than Getzlaf, Perry, Kesler and Rakell). He'll now start the season along Getzlaf and Perry on the top line while also seeing a prominent role on the wing of the second power-play unit. While Arizona has improved, they did surrender an ugly 3.15 goals per game last year and sported a horrendous 77.3% penalty kill. I expect this to be as cheap as we see Ritchie priced all season.