BOSTON — After a trade from the Anaheim Ducks sent Nick Ritchie to the Boston Bruins, the winger will get his first start in black and gold Tuesday against the Calgary Flames.
At morning skate the day of his debut, Ritchie shared with Bruins team reporter Eric Russo how fortunate he felt to be dealt to Boston.
“Very excited,” Ritchie said when asked about his reaction to the transaction.
“It was a lot of emotion I think when the trade went down and to be honest I didn’t necessarily see it coming but it was really exciting when I did hear I was going to such a quality organization and such a good team, a first-place team. I’m really excited to see what the next few months have in story.
Ritchie, who was acquired Monday in exchange for Danton Heinen, played his best game of the season for the Ducks against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, scoring two goals and two assists in an overtime loss.
The trade takes Ritchie from a roster that’s second-to-last in the Pacific Division and inserts him in Boston, which sits atop the Atlantic Division.
Though he didn’t know what to expect after being traded for the first time, Ritchie already knew a few guys in the organization who helped him out.
That includes his older brother, Brett Ritchie, a winger playing for the Providence Bruins.
“I don’t know what to expect, but lucky I knew a few guys and the other guys are super nice and welcoming,” Nick Ritchie added at morning skate.
“From the west coast back to the east coast obviously it’s a big change but I got to talk to (Brett) and he’s helped me and just talked about the city and the guys in the locker room and helped me kind of feel fresh right away. This is the first time I met the guys so it’s going to be a little bit of an adjustment period but I’m really excited.”
He’s not undergoing this transition alone, as he follows Ducks teammate Ondrej Kase, who was shipped to Boston in a separate trade.
“(Kase) is a guy that we kind of started out in Anaheim as young players together and it’s nice to have that,” Ritchie said. “It’s funny how things work out sometimes like that.”
We’ll see how he and his new teammates jell at TD Garden when the puck drops against Calgary at 7 p.m. ET.
