Sabres pick #8 Rasmus Ristolainen

[skaught]

Are you gone yet?

 

I'm pretty sure he's built in to the forum software.

[qwksndmonster]

Um, what? Why is it so hard to believe, that behind closed doors, Hodgson actually is a good leader? Again I'll point to Drury....not because I think Hodgson is Drury, but because Drury's public persona was as bland, vanilla, and cliche-ridden as it gets. Yet he was revered as a locker room leader. We have no freakin' clue what any of these guys are like in the locker room.

But! We know that Hodgson hangs out with teammates and advertises things. Not captain material.

[Taro T]

Sounds like pairings of:

Myers & Hank

The Hoff & Pysyk

Weber & Risto

 

#7 & #8: McBain & Sulzer

 

Still not sure why we grabbed McBain, but with a couple of injuries he could prove useful.

I'd expect it to be

 

Ehrhoff - Myers

Weber-Pysyk

Tallinder - Ristoleinen

 

With them seeing ~26, 20, 14.

[LTS]

Am I allowed to complain about this? Yes? No? Because it looks a hell of a lot like a Darcy defense. 1 out of 8 of those guys will actually move a man from in front of the net on a regular basis. The Finn is a ? in that regard, but given he is 18 and the amount of hair product he uses....I'll believe it when I see it. This season is setting up with the same exact type of roster as 2007-08, except less talented. If Hodgson gets the C, then I think that's when I'll call it a day.

 

If that was aimed at my comments elsewhere I'll chime in. This is exactly what I would prefer to see debated. Of course given the entire composition of the defense the odds were limited in how many people the Sabres would have that would clear the front of the net right? Are there any proven bruisers in the system?

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

If that was aimed at my comments elsewhere I'll chime in. This is exactly what I would prefer to see debated. Of course given the entire composition of the defense the odds were limited in how many people the Sabres would have that would clear the front of the net right? Are there any proven bruisers in the system?

McNabb moreso than Sulzer and McBain for sure. It's just when you look at this list on paper....we are nowhere closer to being "harder to play against". I'm on record as being cool with Rolston. I blamed a lot of the defensemen choices on Lindy and his system....which, this crew would fit right in. But this is REALLY weak sauce. Pysyk has a shot to be a Lydman type...which would be ok. Ehrhoff I am fine with letting him be Ehrhoff. Weber is the only grumpy one. Tallinder is Old Tallinder, who was pretty much tall Sekera in his prime. Risto....no clue, but if you want some jam, not really the crew to inspire it. And of course, everyone is praying Myers comes close to earning 60% of his salary this year. Really spooky on the eve of the season and seeing these 8 down hard on paper. Millsie will be cuing up the WTF waves early and often possibly.

[Derrico]

McNabb moreso than Sulzer and McBain for sure. It's just when you look at this list on paper....we are nowhere closer to being "harder to play against". I'm on record as being cool with Rolston. I blamed a lot of the defensemen choices on Lindy and his system....which, this crew would fit right in. But this is REALLY weak sauce. Pysyk has a shot to be a Lydman type...which would be ok. Ehrhoff I am fine with letting him be Ehrhoff. Weber is the only grumpy one. Tallinder is Old Tallinder, who was pretty much tall Sekera in his prime. Risto....no clue, but if you want some jam, not really the crew to inspire it. And of course, everyone is praying Myers comes close to earning 60% of his salary this year. Really spooky on the eve of the season and seeing these 8 down hard on paper. Millsie will be cuing up the WTF waves early and often possibly.

 

I don't think you can just ignore Risto's physical play because he's a rookie. Most of the write ups I've read say he's a tough guy that may not go out of his way to seek a bodycheck like Zadorov but plays tough. I don't consider Myers soft and Weber isnt either as you've pointed out. We will see about Tallinder and I'm fine with having two good puck moving D men in Pysyk and the Hoff. Rome wasn't built over night so let's give McNabb some big minutes in the A before we bring him up. Zadorov will also be on his way next season after big minutes in London. The reinforcements are coming but I don't want to impair the future by bringing McNabb and Zadorov too quick. Let's get through this year and next season is looking like a much tougher team to play against when considering both those Dmen plus Girgs and Larrson up top.

[Weave]

McNabb moreso than Sulzer and McBain for sure. It's just when you look at this list on paper....we are nowhere closer to being "harder to play against". I'm on record as being cool with Rolston. I blamed a lot of the defensemen choices on Lindy and his system....which, this crew would fit right in. But this is REALLY weak sauce. Pysyk has a shot to be a Lydman type...which would be ok. Ehrhoff I am fine with letting him be Ehrhoff. Weber is the only grumpy one. Tallinder is Old Tallinder, who was pretty much tall Sekera in his prime. Risto....no clue, but if you want some jam, not really the crew to inspire it. And of course, everyone is praying Myers comes close to earning 60% of his salary this year. Really spooky on the eve of the season and seeing these 8 down hard on paper. Millsie will be cuing up the WTF waves early and often possibly.

 

You are likely correct for this season.

 

We are closer in general though. Risto and Zadorov were drafted specifically because of their harder-to-play-against game. McNabb will be here. Weber will still be here.

[LGR4GM]

McNabb moreso than Sulzer and McBain for sure. It's just when you look at this list on paper....we are nowhere closer to being "harder to play against". I'm on record as being cool with Rolston. I blamed a lot of the defensemen choices on Lindy and his system....which, this crew would fit right in. But this is REALLY weak sauce. Pysyk has a shot to be a Lydman type...which would be ok. Ehrhoff I am fine with letting him be Ehrhoff. Weber is the only grumpy one. Tallinder is Old Tallinder, who was pretty much tall Sekera in his prime. Risto....no clue, but if you want some jam, not really the crew to inspire it. And of course, everyone is praying Myers comes close to earning 60% of his salary this year. Really spooky on the eve of the season and seeing these 8 down hard on paper. Millsie will be cuing up the WTF waves early and often possibly.

You really don't see it do you? I give up trying to convince you. Enjoy the season.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

You are likely correct for this season.

 

We are closer in general though. Risto and Zadorov were drafted specifically because of their harder-to-play-against game. McNabb will be here. Weber will still be here.

Are we sure McNabb will be here? We are 3 seasons in from his impressive debut. I trust Zadorov will be physical in the future. But yes, for this season, that list of 8 is as Darcy as it can get. I'm just getting 2007 flashbacks all over lately. Same #Blueprint. Now even up front, we still only have Ott who has both talent and grit. Foligno may eventually crack into that classification, but I'm not so sure he isn't a Gaustad type but at wing. In the 60 minutes of hockey I've seen so far, Girgensons looks like a man, so still crossing my fingers in 3 or 4 years he can put up 20 goals and be a captain. Other than that...we are pretty much at 2007 again. Scott and Kaleta play the parts of Peters and Mair. Sekera/Paetch/Spacek/Tallinder/Lydman....looks a lot like Risto/Pysyk/Tallinder/Ehrhoff/Myers today........Campbell/Kalinin we can call Regehr/Leopold..already gone........and up front.....Stafford/MacArthur/Paille.....young.....Vanek/Roy/Pominville/Connolly/Gaustad.......all these guys were 25 or less....Now you have your Hodgson/Ennis/Grigorenko/Foligno/Girgensons/Larrson...........the thing is, in 2007, those guys were already proven talent, and expected to grow and lead. 7 of those forwards are making between 3 and 7 million dollars today. What does Buffalo have to show for it? That's what scares the #### out of me. For as much as people say they get tired of hearing about Darcy.....please tell me he isn't doing the EXACT same thing he did back then. Same roster mold for the most part, same age and expected "grow from within" mentality.....but in all honesty, pound for pound that 2007 team probably will outshine what is in the Sabres' system in the end. Sorry for 1 paragraph.....

[K-9]

Are we sure McNabb will be here? We are 3 seasons in from his impressive debut. I trust Zadorov will be physical in the future. But yes, for this season, that list of 8 is as Darcy as it can get. I'm just getting 2007 flashbacks all over lately. Same #Blueprint. Now even up front, we still only have Ott who has both talent and grit. Foligno may eventually crack into that classification, but I'm not so sure he isn't a Gaustad type but at wing. In the 60 minutes of hockey I've seen so far, Girgensons looks like a man, so still crossing my fingers in 3 or 4 years he can put up 20 goals and be a captain. Other than that...we are pretty much at 2007 again. Scott and Kaleta play the parts of Peters and Mair. Sekera/Paetch/Spacek/Tallinder/Lydman....looks a lot like Risto/Pysyk/Tallinder/Ehrhoff/Myers today........Campbell/Kalinin we can call Regehr/Leopold..already gone........and up front.....Stafford/MacArthur/Paille.....young.....Vanek/Roy/Pominville/Connolly/Gaustad.......all these guys were 25 or less....Now you have your Hodgson/Ennis/Grigorenko/Foligno/Girgensons/Larrson...........the thing is, in 2007, those guys were already proven talent, and expected to grow and lead. 7 of those forwards are making between 3 and 7 million dollars today. What does Buffalo have to show for it? That's what scares the #### out of me. For as much as people say they get tired of hearing about Darcy.....please tell me he isn't doing the EXACT same thing he did back then. Same roster mold for the most part, same age and expected "grow from within" mentality.....but in all honesty, pound for pound that 2007 team probably will outshine what is in the Sabres' system in the end. Sorry for 1 paragraph.....

 

Oh for crissakes, every team in the league has to retool and reinvent in order to strike upon a winning formula. You keep seeing shades of 2007 but you'd be better served to see shades of '02/'03 and '03/'04 when that team finished the second half as one of the best teams in the league. The strike year only postponed their ascendancy.

 

Stop harping on what was and what didn't work out and embrace the reinvention.

 

Again.

 

GO SABRES!!!

[LGR4GM]

Let us look at the centers on the 2007 team versus the 2013 team and beyond

 

Roy, Gaustad, Connolly, Hecht, Mair

 

Hodgson, Grigorenko, Girgensons, Larsson, Ennis (4first round picks, 1 2nd rounder)

 

Now the 07 centers had 1 guy over 6'1" and only 2 players over 200lbs

The 2013 and beyond group... has 2 guys over 6'2" and 4 guys at or over 200lbs. Also in the first group we have 1 first round pick. In the second group 4 out of 5 are first round selections.

 

So no this team is not the same as it was in 2007. Unless you can conjure a time machine it is different. Is Darcy's philosophy the same? Maybe you could argue that. It seems very similar but this is a different team with more talent.

[darksabre]

Let us look at the centers on the 2007 team versus the 2013 team and beyond

 

Roy, Gaustad, Connolly, Hecht, Mair

 

Hodgson, Grigorenko, Girgensons, Larsson, Ennis (4first round picks, 1 2nd rounder)

 

Now the 07 centers had 1 guy over 6'1" and only 2 players over 200lbs

The 2013 and beyond group... has 2 guys over 6'2" and 4 guys at or over 200lbs. Also in the first group we have 1 first round pick. In the second group 4 out of 5 are first round selections.

 

So no this team is not the same as it was in 2007. Unless you can conjure a time machine it is different. Is Darcy's philosophy the same? Maybe you could argue that. It seems very similar but this is a different team with more talent.

 

As long as we can put "raw" in front of talent, I think this is just about correct.

[Weave]

Let us look at the centers on the 2007 team versus the 2013 team and beyond

 

Roy, Gaustad, Connolly, Hecht, Mair

 

Hodgson, Grigorenko, Girgensons, Larsson, Ennis (4first round picks, 1 2nd rounder)

 

Now the 07 centers had 1 guy over 6'1" and only 2 players over 200lbs

The 2013 and beyond group... has 2 guys over 6'2" and 4 guys at or over 200lbs. Also in the first group we have 1 first round pick. In the second group 4 out of 5 are first round selections.

 

So no this team is not the same as it was in 2007. Unless you can conjure a time machine it is different. Is Darcy's philosophy the same? Maybe you could argue that. It seems very similar but this is a different team with more talent.

 

I can totally see where Dwight gets similarities to the 2007 roster. Guys like Roy and Connollly were "two of the top 20 centers in the league" if you recall back then. I could see a parallel drawn between them and with Hodgson and Ennis and Grigo.

 

Then again, I can see the differences too. None of the young core from 07 had the dedication to the game that Hodgson has. And as talented as Connolly was, none had the raw talent that Grigo has. And I think that none of the guys from 07 had the combo of talent and tenacity that Larsson has.

 

And while the D today looks less than hard edged overall, the pipeline looks chock full of kids ready to step in and play angry. I don't believe we had that in 07.

 

They are a different set of kids, with different personalities and skillsets. I don't think it does any good to paint them with the same brush that the 07 core was painted with until they actually prove to be a bunch of lazy, weak willed children.

[K-9]

I keep seeing the comparisons to the '07 "core" when the more apt one is the '02/'03 and '03/04 team. That was the germination stage of the "core" that came to maturation later on. The current group is a couple seasons away from that same kind of maturation. I'd be pleasantly surprised if they made much noise before then. What I need to see this year is steady improvement and a team that is showing signs like that team of '03/04.

 

Nothing better than a talented young group growing up and getting good together. Can't wait.

 

GO SABRES!!!

[dudacek]

I think Ghost is bang on that it's the same plan.

And Weave is bang on that it's a different set of players.

 

The thing is, we're not at 2007, we're at 2004.

And the 2006 team was pretty damn good, and maybe, with Pegula in charge, it doesn't get busted up.

 

EDIT: K-9 beat me to it.

[nfreeman]

 

 

I can totally see where Dwight gets similarities to the 2007 roster. Guys like Roy and Connollly were "two of the top 20 centers in the league" if you recall back then. I could see a parallel drawn between them and with Hodgson and Ennis and Grigo.

 

Then again, I can see the differences too. None of the young core from 07 had the dedication to the game that Hodgson has. And as talented as Connolly was, none had the raw talent that Grigo has. And I think that none of the guys from 07 had the combo of talent and tenacity that Larsson has.

 

And while the D today looks less than hard edged overall, the pipeline looks chock full of kids ready to step in and play angry. I don't believe we had that in 07.

 

They are a different set of kids, with different personalities and skillsets. I don't think it does any good to paint them with the same brush that the 07 core was painted with until they actually prove to be a bunch of lazy, weak willed children.

 

Good post. I will quibble with the Griggy/TC comparison -- I haven't seen anything out of Griggy demonstrating talent approaching TC's.

[LTS]

McNabb moreso than Sulzer and McBain for sure. It's just when you look at this list on paper....we are nowhere closer to being "harder to play against". I'm on record as being cool with Rolston. I blamed a lot of the defensemen choices on Lindy and his system....which, this crew would fit right in. But this is REALLY weak sauce. Pysyk has a shot to be a Lydman type...which would be ok. Ehrhoff I am fine with letting him be Ehrhoff. Weber is the only grumpy one. Tallinder is Old Tallinder, who was pretty much tall Sekera in his prime. Risto....no clue, but if you want some jam, not really the crew to inspire it. And of course, everyone is praying Myers comes close to earning 60% of his salary this year. Really spooky on the eve of the season and seeing these 8 down hard on paper. Millsie will be cuing up the WTF waves early and often possibly.

 

I agree with the defensive assessment. The only difference is that I think there will be additional help from the forwards this year that might help offset that a bit. That said....

 

You are likely correct for this season.

 

We are closer in general though. Risto and Zadorov were drafted specifically because of their harder-to-play-against game. McNabb will be here. Weber will still be here.

 

This is what I would have said. They recognized the potential nature of the defense. They were stocked on puck movers and not body movers. They went out and got a pair of D, that to this point have shown really good signs.

 

There are definitely a lot of questions (as there should be for a team in this situation). I'm waiting to see what the on ice products shows us once the season starts and it's full go. The division is strong and we'll get a good idea of what the Sabres have pretty quick.

[BuffaloBorn]

Sabres have a few guys over 6'2 in 2013:

Joel Armia, John Scott, Mikhail Grigorenko, Marcus Foligno, Tyler Myers, Rasmus Ritolainen, Henrik Tallinder,

[LGR4GM]

Sabres have a few guys over 6'2 in 2013:

Joel Armia, John Scott, Mikhail Grigorenko, Marcus Foligno, Tyler Myers, Rasmus Ritolainen, Henrik Tallinder,

MIke Weber, Thomas Vanek, Cody McCormick, Ehrhoff.... Zadorov. What point are you making?

[shrader]

MIke Weber, Thomas Vanek, Cody McCormick, Ehrhoff.... Zadorov. What point are you making?

 

He said OVER 6'2, so I'd say his point is very clear.

[LGR4GM]

He said OVER 6'2, so I'd say his point is very clear.

okay but why? It is a really random thing to just say. What is it referencing?

[darksabre]

okay but why? It is a really random thing to just say. What is it referencing?

 

I think he's just making a point that our team is embracing the big skilled player philosophy of the rest of the league.

[shrader]

okay but why? It is a really random thing to just say. What is it referencing?

 

All cutoff points are completely arbitrary, so why not introduce another one.

[dudacek]

Risto is flying a bit under the radar here.

Not many 18-year-old defencemen make the NHL.

Not that the Sabres have a ton of great defenders, but McBain and Sulzer have been NHLers the past few years and McNabb and Ruhwedel have looked OK in brief spurts.

He certainly has pushed his way up the depth chart.

[drnkirishone]

Been very unimpressed with risto so far. He has been a absolute train wreck defensively and unspectacular offensivly. Hopefully he calms down and settles in