Former top-ten pick free to leave European club following lengthy suspension

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Cooper Godin
January 24, 2024 (7:36)

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After becoming eligible to return to his club's lineup on Monday following an eight-game suspension, it appears that Nick Ritchie's time with Oulun Karpat in Finland is over.

In a statement on their official website, the Finnish club announced that Ritchie is free to look for a new club as they can no longer offer him a big enough role within the team for the remainder of the season.

Note: the following is translated from Finnish.

"Karpat cannot offer Ritchie a big enough role in the team for the rest of the season, so he is free to look for a place to play elsewhere. When he came up, we knew he was a high risk / high reward style card that we thought was worth a look. However, he was not able to rise to the role that we would have needed him to play",

Ritchie, 28, only appeared in ten games for Oulun Karpat this season, putting up five points (one goal, four assists), was a minus-seven and had a whopping 70 penalty minutes.

In late-December, Ritchie was suspended for eight games by Liiga, Finland's top division, after he repeatedly punched a defenseless opponent in the head while he was on the ice. Ritchie was eligible to return to Karpat's lineup on Monday, but it's safe to say that the club wanted to go separate ways following the incident.

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Source: Oulun Karpat