Ryder Ritchie. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Mrsic 23G-39A-62P Last Season

Raiders trade Ritchie, acquire Mrsic

Aug 26, 2024 | 10:59 AM

In another blockbuster trade before the start of the 2024-25 season, the Prince Albert Raiders made waves Monday when they traded 18-year-old forward Ryder Ritchie to the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for 18-year-old forward Tomas Mrsic, a 2025 third round pick, and a conditional 2028 third round pick.

Mrsic spent the last two seasons with the Tigers, playing 131 games and putting up 86 points in that time. Last year, Mrsic had a huge jump in his production, posting up 23G-39A-62P in just 63 games. The Surrey, B.C. native was also taken in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues at 113th overall in the fourth round.

Raiders General Manager Curtis Hunt said Mrsic’s rise in production last year was no surprise after Medicine Hat drafted him eighth overall during the 2021 WHL bantam draft.

“I really like his speed, I like his versatility, he can play all three forward positions. I like the skill, we just think he’s just a really good hockey player and we thought he’d probably be a good fit, and that versatility could move around throughout our lineup.”

As for Ritchie, the fan favourite posted 19G-25A-44P in 47 games last year in a season that was broken up by injury. In total with the Raiders, Ritchie put up 99 points over 108 games as a Raider.

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“Ryder is a heck of a young player. We feel Tomas is a heck of a young player and in the end when we think about our group and how our coach will be able to use them, we thought this this could be a very positive deal for both players and both organizations, and so it made sense at a lot of levels for us and and obviously for Medicine Hat as well.”

The Raiders have made a few big trades this offseason, including bringing in Seattle Kraken draft pick Lukas Dragocevic and Buffalo Sabres draft pick Norwin Panocha. While managing the 20-year-old situation was a part of it, Hunt believes the trades the Raiders have made not only make them better now, but set them up for success in the future too.

“Trades are never easy and they’re not always necessarily fun trying to put them together, but where I think we’ve landed today is I think we’ve improved our puck possession game. I think we’ve improved our speed. I think we’ve improved our skill and ability to move pucks.”

Hunt added he’s happy to have these moves done before the start of camp on Friday to let the players focus on playing the game and getting a good start to the season. Camp runs all weekend with the annual Green and White game scheduled for 11 a.m. on Monday at the Art Hauser Centre.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com