Bruins swap Heinen for Ritchie

BOSTON — Friday's trade made them faster.

Monday's trade made them bigger.

The Bruins already sit atop the NHL's overall standings, so it will be hard for them to actually get better over the last 19 games of the regular season. But that wasn't the point of adding wingers Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie ahead of Monday's NHL trade deadline.

“We've maintained our depth, and addressed some areas we felt we needed, [...]

BOSTON — Friday's trade made them faster.

Monday's trade made them bigger.

The Bruins already sit atop the NHL's overall standings, so it will be hard for them to actually get better over the last 19 games of the regular season. But that wasn't the point of adding wingers Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie ahead of Monday's NHL trade deadline.

“We've maintained our depth, and addressed some areas we felt we needed,” general manager Don Sweeney said on Monday afternoon, after executing his second trade with the Ducks in four days. Ondrej Kase was acquired on Friday, in exchange for unused veteran David Backes, defense prospect Axel Andersson and the Bruins' first-round draft pick this summer. Winger Danton Heinen was sent to Anaheim on Monday for Nick Ritchie.

“Secondary scoring is always so important … and we believe (Kase) will provide some of that, with a speed element to his game. And now (Ritchie), on the other side … if he goes in and plays with Charlie Coyle, those are two big guys to contain.”

The Bruins may get a look at a Ritchie-Coyle combination on Tuesday night against the Flames at TD Garden, but Kase's debut may be delayed slightly. Out of action since Feb. 7 with what the Ducks termed “flu-like symptoms,” he did practice with the B's on Monday morning, but head coach Bruce Cassidy said he thought Kase “would like to get a few more reps with us” before playing a game.

“But that deal is as much for the playoffs and moving forward,” Cassidy added, “so we're not worried as much about today, Thursday (home, vs. the Stars) or Saturday (at the Islanders).”

The same is true of the swap that sent Heinen, who was under-producing in a second- and third-line role this season (seven goals, 22 points in 58 games), out West for Ritchie, a 6-foot, 2-inch, 230-pound left wing who scored eight goals and 19 points in 41 games with the Ducks. He didn't play from Dec. 8 through Jan. 17 because of a sprained MCL.

A fourth-year NHLer who scored 14 goals as a rookie in 2016-17, Ritchie followed with campaigns of 10 goals in '17-18 and nine last year, when he missed most of the first month of the season — first because he was still negotiating a contract (nine games lost) and then because of an upper-body injury (six).

Ritchie, whose current deal runs through next season at $1.5 million annually, comes to Boston with an opportunity to give the family name a bit of a boost. The Bruins signed his older brother, Brett, to a one-year, $1-million deal as an unrestricted free agent, but he was sent to AHL Providence in mid-January after scoring only two goals and four points in 27 games.

Sweeney joked about the coincidence.

“There's no question you'll get asked the question, ‘Did I get the right Ritchie this time?' ” the GM said.

“But we do believe (Nick Ritchie) adds an element to our hockey club that we didn't have prior to today. There's some big-body hockey that's going to be played going forward, and I think that he's a part of that.”

The initial plan is to team Ritchie at left wing with Coyle, the 6-3, 220-pound Weymouth, Mass., native, and Anders Bjork at right wing. Ritchie, who felt he was finding his game (3-2 — 5 in his previous 13 outings), completed his Ducks career with a two-goal, two-assist performance in Sunday night's 6-5 loss to the Golden Knights.

“I drive to the net and win puck battles, and hopefully can bring in a few wins down and around the net,” Ritchie said. “That's what I've been doing, and why I'm playing well.”

Kase joined the second-line tandem of Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci in Monday's practice. That's where he's expected to play when he's ready.

“I'm not sure, actually,” when that will be, Kase said. “But I feel good.”

Krejci, who has played with an assortment of right wings before (Heinen, a left-hand shot, was among them) and during his three-year partnership with DeBrusk, is eager to see how Kase works out.

“It's always nice to have a right-handed shot on your line,” Krejci said. “(Kase) can score (20 goals in 2017-18, but only seven over 49 games this year), has good speed. That always helps. Hopefully he'll fit in well, and help the team.”