TAMPA, Fla. – What-ifs are a common mental game in the NHL as it’s just human nature to wonder about the path not taken. For instance, how would this season’s Islanders look if Brock Nelson had accepted former president/general manager Lou Lamoriello’s extension offer rather than being traded to the Avalanche in a deal that returned swiftly developing rookie center Cal Ritchie?
“You always look back,” Bo Horvat told Newsday. “I play that game all the time, for sure. Going back to my Vancouver days, what if this, what if that? That’s another one. What if Brock stayed? Everything happens for a reason, that’s the way I look at it. I’m sure he’s happy where he is and we’re happy with where we’re at.”
The Islanders open a back-to-back Florida swing for their dads/mentors’ trip on Saturday night against the Atlantic Division-leading Lightning at Benchmark International Arena after concluding a 3-3-1 homestand with an impressive 6-3 win over Nelson’s Avalanche on Thursday night.
And if other players such as Horvat tip-toe through the what-if world, Ritchie does not. He’s too busy working to develop into a steady, confident NHL regular, something he’s showing more and more.
“No, not really,” Ritchie told Newsday. “My biggest thing is just staying present. I’m enjoying every day here.”
Ritchie had an assist in Tuesday’s 2-1 win over the Lightning at UBS Arena as his trio with Simon Holmstrom and Anthony Duclair was the Islanders’ best in that particular matchup. The 20-year-old, who quickly earned coach Patrick Roy’s trust defensively after being recalled from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport on Oct. 31, has two goals and two assists in 18 games.
His burgeoning confidence in playing with the puck and looking for his shot is readily evident.
“For sure,” Ritchie said. “Your first few games, the game feels pretty fast and you don’t see as many openings. I’m starting to see those plays. See the game a bit slower. I’m trying to make more plays in the neutral zone and making more plays off the rush and not just trying to play it safe. I’m playing with more confidence, trying to produce more, shoot more.”
Ritchie was a playmaker during his junior hockey career with Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League, notching 28 goals and 52 assists in 50 games two seasons ago and 15 goals and 55 assists in 47 games last season after starting the season with a goal – against the Islanders – in seven games with the Avalanche.
“When I have that confidence, it reminds me of when I was in juniors,” said Ritchie, selected 27th overall by the Avalanche in 2023.
Ritchie is playing well enough as the third-line center now with Jean-Gabriel Pageau (upper body) out the last six games that it brings up another what-if.
What if, when Pageau returns, Roy feels comfortable enough with Ritchie to elevate him into the top six and move Mathew Barzal back from center to Horvat’s wing as was the plan entering training camp and earlier this season?
Of course, Barzal’s line with Anders Lee and Max Tsyplakov – subbing for an injured Jonathan Drouin (lower body) – was dominant against the Avalanche. Barzal had a power-play goal and two assists and Lee added a goal and an assist.
“That’s up to Patrick,” Barzal told Newsday. “I think my line, to be honest, has been playing great. We’ll see. Things are going well. Ritchie’s line is playing great, a nice third line. It’s a good thing to have options like that.”
As for the Nelson trade on March 6, which also yielded a first- and third-round pick and is shaping up as a win-win for both franchises, what if it hadn’t been made? Nelson accepted the same three-year, $22.5 million deal from the Avalanche this offseason that Lamoriello is believed to have offered him.
Obviously, Ritchie wouldn’t be an Islander. And with Nelson’s $7.5 million counting against the Islanders’ salary cap, first-year GM Mathieu Darche would not have been able to sign Drouin to a two-year, $8 million deal.
Drouin, who has three goals and 12 assists in 26 games, has meshed well with Barzal and been a solid top-six performer, including on the power play.
And perhaps Darche might not have been able to afford Russian rookie Max Shabanov (three goals, six assists in 16 games) to a one-year, $975,000 deal.
“We wouldn’t be maybe in the position we are right now with the guys we have,” Horvat said. “Everything happens for a reason and I’m just glad it’s working out both ways.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.