Brett Ritchie

Brett Ritchie (born July 1, 1993) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for Minsk Dynamo of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

He most recently played for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL).

In 2009–10 Ritchie scored 13 goals and 16 assists in 65 games for the Sarnia Sting during his first season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

During his second season he missed approximately a month of the season due to mononucleosis, but despite playing just 49 games, his scoring improved to 21 goals and 20 assists during the 2010–11 season.

He was selected by the Dallas Stars, 44th overall, in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Ritchie attended The Hill Academy.

Unfortunately, due to his illness during the mid-season, Ritchie missed his opportunity to play in the 2011 CHL Top Prospects Game.

He began January tied for 11th in rookie scoring with 23 points through 36 games.

Ritchie quickly picked up production throughout January and scored seven goals through 13 games.

In early April, Ritchie set a franchise-record by scoring four goals in a 5–1 win over the Lake Erie Monsters.

On January 5, 2012 Ritchie was traded to the Niagara Icedogs for Guelph's 2012 2nd round pick, Peterborough's 2014 2nd round pick, and Niagara's own 2013 2nd and 5th round picks – all of which Sarnia immediately traded to Mississauga to acquire goalie JP Anderson.

On July 11, 2012, Ritchie signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Dallas Stars.

After attending the Stars' training camp, he returned to the OHL for the 2012–13 season.

At the conclusion of the 2012–13 season, Ritchie was re-assigned to the Stars' American Hockey League associate, the Texas Stars, for the remainder of the 2012–13 AHL season.

He made his professional debut on April 5, 2013, where he scored his first professional goal in a game against the Oklahoma City Barons.

A As the Texas Stars qualified for the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs, Ritchie scored the game-winning goal of Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal against the Milwaukee Admirals on April 27, 2013.

Ritchie joined the Dallas Stars at the NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan in September 2013.

He also played with the Stars in their preseason games, spending time on their second power play unit.

However, he soon suffered a lower body injury and missed numerous preseason games to recover.

Following the conclusion of the preseason, Ritchie was re-assigned to the Texas Stars for the 2013–14 season.

Ritchie began the season strong, tallying two goals and seven assists to tie for ninth among AHL rookies in scoring by early November.

By the end of the month, he ranked seventh among rookies as he had added two more goals and four more assists for 15 points through 20 games.

However, he later suffered an injury and was not expected to be ready to start the 2014 Calder Cup playoffs.

He finished the regular season with 22 goals and 26 assists for 48 points through 68 games.

Ritchie subsequently missed the first eight games of the playoffs before returning to the lineup for the Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

In his return, he scored a goal on the power play to lift the Stars 7–1 over the Griffins and advance them to the Western Conference Finals.

Despite missing numerous games, Ritchie immediately brought offensive production to the Stars lineup and quickly scored three goals in three games.

Two of his goals came during Texas’ 6–3 win over the Toronto Marlies to even their series to 1–1.

Ritchie scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals to advance the Stars to the 2014 Calder Cup Finals.

He scored another goal in Game 5 to lift the Stars to a 4–3 victory over the St. John's IceCaps and secure their first Calder Cup.

Ritchie finished the postseason with seven goals and 11 points in 13 games in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Following their Calder Cup win, Ritchie returned to the Dallas Stars' training camp and participated in his second NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan.

Although the Stars won their game against the Carolina Hurricanes prospects, Ritchie injured his right pinky and was expected to remain out for the remainder of the tournament as a precaution.

After spending two weeks in recovery, Ritchie returned to the Stars lineup for their third exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on September 26.

On October 1, Ritchie and Jyrki Jokipakka were re-assigned to the AHL to start the 2014–15 season.

He began his sophomore season with the Texas Stars going scoreless in his first five games despite ranking second in the AHL with 30 shots on goal.

He later missed some games through November and December due to illness and injury.

Upon recovering, he scored his second hat-trick with the Stars during their game against the Charlotte Checkers on December 27, 2014.

Following this game, he led the team with 11 goals and tied for third on the team with 18 points.

As a result of his outstanding play, he was recalled to the NHL level for the first time of the season on December 31.