Isaac Ratcliffe (born February 15, 1999) is a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

left wing for the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) as a prospect to the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He was selected by the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...

in the second round, 35th overall, of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Early life

Ratcliffe was born on February 15, 1999, in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

, to Elaine and Al Ratcliffe. Born into a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

family, Ratcliffe followed his older brother Landon into

, learning to skate at the age of three and playing in coordinated games two years later. He was childhood friends with fellow London native and future

(NHL) player

Nick Suzuki Nicholas Suzuki (born August 10, 1999) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Vegas Golden Knights selected him in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2017 NHL ...

, and the pair would play ice hockey,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, and soccer together. Originally a

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

, Ratcliffe was converted to a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

at the age of 11, as he spent most of his time in his team's offensive zone. He and Suzuki went on to play

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...

together for the London Jr. Knights of Alliance Hockey. In his final season with the London Jr. Knights of the Alliance Hockey, Ratcliffe recorded 22

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

and 27 assists for a total of 49 points in 32 games.

Playing career

Junior

The

Guelph Storm The Guelph Storm are a major junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. They have played in the OHL since the 1991–92 season. The team plays home games at the Sleeman Centre. History The franchise started as the Toronto Marl ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

(OHL) drafted Ratcliffe in the first round, 15th overall, of the 2015 OHL Priority Selection. He joined the team for the 2015–16 OHL season, scoring his first junior ice hockey goal on October 3, 2015, against

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

Evan Cormier of the

Saginaw Spirit The Saginaw Spirit are a major junior ice hockey team based in Saginaw, Michigan. They are members of the West Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of the Major Junior leagues of the Canadian Hockey League ...

. Ratcliffe finished his first season in Guelph with five goals and eight assists in 46 games. His rookie season was limited by a number of injuries, but he soon saw an offensive surge during the

2016–17 OHL season The 2016–17 OHL season was the 37th season of the Ontario Hockey League, in which twenty teams played 68 games each according to the regular season schedule, from September 21, 2016 to March 21, 2017. The playoffs began on March 23, 2017 and end ...

, with seven goals and 10 assists in the first 19 games of the season. With 43 games into his sophomore season, Ratcliffe had nearly tripled his previous-season totals, with 20 goals and 18 assists, and he was one of two Guelph Storm skaters named to the 2017

CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game The CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is an annual event in which forty of the top NHL Entry Draft eligible prospects in the Canadian Hockey League play against each other in an all-star game environment. Players are able to boost their draft ranking w ...

. He finished the season with 56 points in 67 games, including a team-leading 28 goals, and was named the Storm's Most Improved Player. In June 2017, the

selected Ratcliffe in the second round, 35th overall, of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, and he signed an

entry-level contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

with them in August 2017. After joining the Flyers for training camp, Ratcliffe returned to the Storm for the 2017–18 OHL season. He had trouble early in the season, struggling with his speed and accuracy, but soon picked up his play with 37 goals through his first 61 games. Finishing the season with 68 points and a career-high 41 goals, Ratcliffe earned the Glad Mowatt Most Valuable Player Award, Fay Scott Memorial Award, and Top Scorer Award at the Storm's end-of-year team banquet. When the Guelph season concluded, Ratcliffe joined the

Lehigh Valley Phantoms The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are a professional ice hockey team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The team competes in the American Hockey League (AHL) and serves as the primary development team for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey L ...

, the Flyers'

(AHL) affiliate, for the end of their 2017–18 season. He played two AHL games that season, scoring his first professional ice hockey goal on April 13, 2018, in a 5–2 win over the

Bridgeport Sound Tigers The Bridgeport Islanders (previously known as the Bridgeport Sound Tigers) are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL). They are the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders, who own the f ...

. Ratcliffe rejoined the Storm for the

2018–19 OHL season The 2018–19 OHL season was the 39th season of the Ontario Hockey League, in which twenty teams played 68 games each according to the regular season schedule, from September 19, 2018 to March 17, 2019. The Guelph Storm won the J. Ross Robertson ...

, where he was named captain. On March 18, 2019, Ratcliffe scored his 49th and 50th goals of the season in a 5–2 defeat of the

Erie Otters The Erie Otters are a Major junior ice hockey team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Midwest division of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of only three American teams in the circuit. The team name refers to the North Am ...

, making him the fifth player in franchise history to reach the 50-goal mark in a single season. He finished the regular season with 50 goals and 82 points in 65 games, and he took home the Mickey Renaud Captain's Trophy for leadership in the OHL that spring. Ratcliffe added another 15 goals and 30 points in 24 OHL playoff games as he captained the Storm to their first

J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, and ...

in six years and a berth in the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

. Although the Storm fell in the Memorial Cup semifinal round, Ratcliffe added an additional 15 goals and 14 assists in 24 games, and he was named to the

Memorial Cup All-Star Team The Memorial Cup All-Star Team is an annual selection of the best players at the Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in ...

Professional

Philadelphia Flyers (2019–2023)

Ratcliffe joined the Phantoms again in 2019–20 for his first full season of professional ice hockey. He struggled with the transition from junior to professional level, particularly the greater resistance he faced from opposing skaters, but showed signs of improvement before the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

forced the cancellation of the

2019–20 AHL season The 2019–20 AHL season was the 84th season of the American Hockey League. The regular season began October 4, 2019, and was officially cancelled on May 11, 2020. The 2020 Calder Cup playoffs, which was also cancelled, would have followed the con ...

. He finished the year with six goals and 15 points in 53 games with the Phantoms. He was also limited by injuries during the

2020–21 AHL season The 2020–21 AHL season was the 85th season of the American Hockey League. Due to the ongoing restrictions in the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season was pushed back to February 5, 2021, and the league championship Calder Cup was n ...

, with two goals and six assists in only 22 games. Facing a slew of injuries to their forwards, the Flyers called Ratcliffe up to the NHL on January 27, 2022, to play on the fourth line with Zack MacEwen and Connor Bunnaman for their January 29 game against the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

Nashville Predators (2023–present)

During the 2022–23 season, Ratcliffe was traded by the Flyers to the

in exchange for future considerations on February 26, 2023.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratcliffe, Isaac 1999 births Living people Canadian ice hockey forwards Guelph Storm players Ice hockey people from Ontario Lehigh Valley Phantoms players Milwaukee Admirals players Philadelphia Flyers draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Sportspeople from London, Ontario