Risto...rankings for defenseman

[sweetlou]

Rasmus has logged a lot of minutes for this team.  Yes he has made his mistakes, but when you compare him around the league he is one of the top Right handed defenseman around.

 

Category.                number           ranking all defense         ranking right hand defense

 

Hits                          206                       #9                                   #3

 

blocked shots.         111                       #80                                 #31   

 

give aways.               47                        #82                                 #34.    (not a lot of give aways for the amount of minutes played

 

ice time per game.   26:30 min.           #4                                    #3

 

Goals                        6                         #81                                  tied for 30th

 

assist                        35                       #22                                   #13

 

Points                      41                        #27                                   #15

 

 

So although it seemed that Risto had a horrible year, statistically it wasn't that bad.  I don't look at plus/minus that much when you are on a horrible team.  So offensively he would be a Number 1 right handed defenseman on about half the teams in the league.  I want to see him develop some more this year, but I am not giving up on Risto yet.

 

I think the top 4 looks bright for the future with Dahlin, Risto, and Guhle.  Let them all play this year and develop a chemistry as a unit.

[dudacek]

Risto is another good player who wears the Sabres badness.

He is among the top 30 offensive defencemen in the league over the past three years and he’s better than half the blueliners in the league at defending.

He’s not a franchise guy, but given his youth, edge, size and well-rounded skill set, I doubt there are 50 defencemen in this league you’d take ahead of him. He’s a legit #2

[Weave]

There are concerns regarding his coachability.  Call it a stubborn streak.  Might be his only real flaw.

[GASabresIUFAN]

There are concerns regarding his coachability. Call it a stubborn streak. Might be his only real flaw.

Maybe he isn’t getting good coaching?

 

Also if he wasn’t listening to the coaches he wouldn’t be playing 30 minutes a night in all situations. No coach would reward such conduct with more PT. It sets a terrible precedent.

[Derrico]

I think Risto takes some heat because we want him to be that legit, #1 Dman.  There are no other options so coaches have played him like a #1.  In reality he's a number 2, or more likely, great second pairing guy.  Now that Dahlin is coming aboard, I think we're going to see a great second pairing anchor as early as the season after next.  He will be won back over in the eyes of fans playing 22 minutes a night as a great second pairing guy.

[That Aud Smell]

There are concerns regarding his coachability.  Call it a stubborn streak.  Might be his only real flaw.

 

This is being talked about more and more -- Hamilton on WGR has shared a couple of specific stories about it. And I've credited them, for my own part.

 

That tendency would play into another concern with his game: That, in hockey terms, he's really not that smart. Low hockey IQ. So you could have a guy who thinks he knows better than the coach, often plays outside the system, but doesn't have a good mind for the game.

 

He's a physical freak with great tools. But if he wants to be a valuable top-4 guy, he needs to do a lot more listening and learning.

[sweetlou]

I think Risto is better already than Seabrook was during his prime.  Dahlin projects to be better then what Keith was.  

 

Seabrook and Keith were a pretty good 1,2 punch in the prime of their careers when Chicago won three cups.  Buffalo needs to just build a steady core around them.   I like McCabe and Scandella's game, Sabres just need to find the right fit for their 5th and 6th defenseman.  Can Guhle and Nelson fill the void??

[Marions Piazza]

I think Risto is better already than Seabrook was during his prime.  Dahlin projects to be better then what Keith was.  

 

Seabrook and Keith were a pretty good 1,2 punch in the prime of their careers when Chicago won three cups.  Buffalo needs to just build a steady core around them.   I like McCabe and Scandella's game, Sabres just need to find the right fit for their 5th and 6th defenseman.  Can Guhle and Nelson fill the void??

And find an elite winger like Kane who can actually keep up with Eichel

[LGR4GM]

I don't think Kane is elite. 

 

I think our defense has a better shot of being good this year. Scandella, Risto, Guhle, McCabe are all returning. Nelson might be in that mix too. We also are adding Dahlin and hopefully Pilut (wish they would announce it). Bogosian is a wild card. That is some pretty decent defensive options with only 2 news guys having to learn the Housley system. Ristolainen can drop down to 25 minutes a night or maybe even 24. Moving him eventually to the 2nd line. 

[Doohicksie]

This "uncoachable" claim just doesn't mesh with someone leading the team in ice time.  I suspect it's being overblown.

[That Aud Smell]

This "uncoachable" claim just doesn't mesh with someone leading the team in ice time.  I suspect it's being overblown.

 

Not necessarily.

 

If the guy is just a monster who, through sheer force of his physical tools, can gobble up minutes -- then he's apt to get those minutes, especially on a bad team.

[LGR4GM]

I feel like I heard something fro, Botterill or maybe Housley about being tougher on players not playing the system. I wonder if Housley let it slide because rookie coach crap. 

[nfreeman]

I think Risto is better already than Seabrook was during his prime.  Dahlin projects to be better then what Keith was.  

 

Seabrook and Keith were a pretty good 1,2 punch in the prime of their careers when Chicago won three cups.  Buffalo needs to just build a steady core around them.   I like McCabe and Scandella's game, Sabres just need to find the right fit for their 5th and 6th defenseman.  Can Guhle and Nelson fill the void??

 

Dude.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Pilut is pronounced like Pilot in English.

[Marions Piazza]

I don't think Kane is elite. 

 

I think our defense has a better shot of being good this year. Scandella, Risto, Guhle, McCabe are all returning. Nelson might be in that mix too. We also are adding Dahlin and hopefully Pilut (wish they would announce it). Bogosian is a wild card. That is some pretty decent defensive options with only 2 news guys having to learn the Housley system. Ristolainen can drop down to 25 minutes a night or maybe even 24. Moving him eventually to the 2nd line. 

I was referring to Patrick Kane when I mentioned "an elite winger like Kane"

Pilut is pronounced like Pilot in English.

I saw read on Twitter that Pilut wasn't with the Swedish team and that he was free to sign.  That was Monday morning, wonder if the Sabres are meeting with him this week

[inkman]

I think Risto is better already than Seabrook was during his prime. Dahlin projects to be better then what Keith was.

 

Seabrook and Keith were a pretty good 1,2 punch in the prime of their careers when Chicago won three cups. Buffalo needs to just build a steady core around them. I like McCabe and Scandella's game, Sabres just need to find the right fit for their 5th and 6th defenseman. Can Guhle and Nelson fill the void??

Not only have you drunk the kool-aid but you dumped in two bottles of white lightning and you are running around the neighborhood naked.

[Randall Flagg]

There were only two defensemen on the Sabres that allowed the opposition to enter his side of the zone with the puck more often than RIsto, and only two defensemen that were worse at exiting our zone with possession when the puck was on their sticks. They were Beaulieu and Tennyson 

 

Risto's hockey sense is bad. But I suspect I have a lot less complaining about him in the future where Dahlin's existence will finally force coaches to do what they should have been doing all along, and what Botterill has seen this whole time - playing the guy as a solid second pairing defenseman. He will thrive in that position versus "getting caved in but still existing" in the Ryan Suter role. 

[WildCard]

There were only two defensemen on the Sabres that allowed the opposition to enter his side of the zone with the puck more often than RIsto, and only two defensemen that were worse at exiting our zone with possession when the puck was on their sticks. They were Beaulieu and Tennyson

Show me da proof

[LGR4GM]

Risto: 5evg, 1ppg / 13eva, 22ppa

 

He thrives on the powerplay when he has time and space and is medicore when it comes to defending. He's a second pairing defender and until he plays 23minutes a night doing that he is always going to be an issue. His even strength to powerplay assist ratio has been almost constant over the last 2 seasons. 

 

He played 26:30TOI  last season, up from 26:28TOI the year before.  

[Randall Flagg]

Show me da proof

 

I should have phrased "taking both of those into account", the only two he's worse than are Beaulieu and Tennyson. Because Tennyson was actually better at exiting the zone with possession and Falk was the one worse at that, but Falk was our best player at snuffing out the rush. 

 

Also, for what it's worth, at even strength there were 160 defensemen that had better points per 60 minutes than Risto. I think his offensive ability gets overrated because he gets to pass the puck to Jack and ROR on the power play. It's still good, and it's not as bad as the P/60 number suggests, of course. He's a good PPQB. He was a great one last year, but this season there were a few too many chokes at the blue line keeping pucks in and making the correct pass to be considered great, but I'm sure he can get back there.

 

He's 107th in even strength scoring among defensemen last year.

[ubkev]

Sabres Tuesday Night Trivia team name: Dull & Bad!

[WildCard]

It's hard to take that chart seriously when it has Rasmus being worse than Zach Bogosian and Justin Falk

[Randall Flagg]

It's hard to take that chart seriously when it has Rasmus being worse than Zach Bogosian and Justin Falk

It's not a chart that tells you who's a better defenseman. It's a chart that tells you who sucks at exiting the zone with possession and who sucks at allowing other teams to come into the zone with the puck. 

 

We all know that Risto has been groomed to give up the blue line and hover in the crease. 

 

The numbers are the numbers. Risto lets 75% of the rush attempts that come at him enter the zone successfully. Falk lets a much smaller percent come by. That's all it tells you 

 

And of course Risto sucks leaving the zone with possession, did you not watch me have meltdowns on here because of how often he would just loft the puck at the other team's defense without thinking even with 3 teammates available for a pass? It drove several of us nuts this year :lol:

[LGR4GM]

only 43.9% of his scoring is at ES. 

[darksabre]

Not necessarily.

 

If the guy is just a monster who, through sheer force of his physical tools, can gobble up minutes -- then he's apt to get those minutes, especially on a bad team.

That's pretty much what I think is happening. He's got the physical tools to just eat minutes. But he's just not that next level of hockey smart that would see him be a true #1 guy. He's a more talented Hal Gill.