Ryder, 28, will travel south to Boston next week, checking out places to live after signing on with the Bruins as an unrestricted free agent July 1, getting a $12 million payday (over the next three seasons). After back-to-back 30-goal seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, he slumped to a career low of 14 in 2007-08, the hard-hitting onetime sniper becoming a forgotten part in Guy Carbonneau's up-tempo bleu-blanc-rouge offense.
"A weird year, I'll tell you that," said Ryder, sitting in the lobby of a downtown hotel last week, not far from the condo he owns here. "I started out on a line [with top forwards Saku Koivu and Chris Higgins], got pushed back in the lineup, and then all of a sudden, I was out of the lineup.
"To be honest, I still don't know what happened. All I ever heard from the coaches was, 'Shoot the puck . . . work hard . . . it will all work out.' But . . ."
In the end, Ryder's numbers only underscored his futility and frustration: 14 goals and 31 points in 70 games. In the playoffs, a heated first-round battle with the Bruins that went the full seven games, he went 0-0 -0, bad enough, but even worse considering that he wasn't asked to dress for three of the games.
In the Hub, where he'll be reunited with coach Claude Julien, his longtime mentor dating back to junior hockey, Ryder will be expected to return to his 30-goal-a-year pace, and is the obvious candidate to ride first-line right wing, be it with Marc Savard or Patrice Bergeron dishing him the puck. He was hired for a reason: to score, the heir apparent to the job Glen Murray filled prior to his contract being bought out some three weeks after Ryder signed.
What would be a reasonable number of goals for the new resident right wing?
"More than 14, right?" said Ryder, offering a wry smile. "I'll leave it there."
If that sounds like a young man with something to prove, that's precisely what the Bruins factored into their $12 million investment/gamble. Ryder, the Bruins hope, will be a quick rebound project, with a flick of fire burning in his gut.
