It's time to trade Ristolainen.

[LGR4GM]

He's not good. Either the goal is to get better or wallow in loser land. Trade him and move on. 

Risto is a 5 on a good team who plays on your 2nd pp. He requires better defenders (McCabe) to prop him up and make him mildly usable. His "grit" isn't worth the defensive gafs. He's 26, there's no magic growth in his game coming. 

Never had a positive corsi or xgf. Barely ever came close. 

We need to stop keeping these type of players. 

[Eleven]

The Islanders felt the same way about Chara.

[Stoner]

Senator...

[rakish]

It would be nice to know if Seattle has the opportunity to take him, this is why I find the expansion draft unfulfilling.

As for my view on Risto, to paraphrase Homer Simpson, Risto is neither the cause of, nor the solution to, the problems of the BS.

[Curt]

32 minutes ago, Eleven said:

The Islanders felt the same way about Chara.

Kind of, but pretty different situations.

Chara had just finished his age 23 season and 3rd full NHL season, while Risto this offseason will have just finished his age 26 season and 7th full NHL season.

Chara was not really that late of a bloomer by age 25 he was finishing top-10 in Norris voting.

Also, Chara was traded as part of a package for a star #1C, Yashin, along with a 1st and a 4th line F.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Curt

[Weave]

Is this addition by subtraction?  If not, who is coming back?

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

No one ever stops to question why Ristolainen has terrible numbers and yet other defenders come here and do better. Maybe he's part of the reason the teams had. He's not good. Trade him. 

Not all of us define a player's worth simply by the amount of shots taken while he's on the ice at even strength.

Rasmus Ristolainen is the 20th highest scoring defenceman in the entire league over the past 6 years. Those are excellent numbers.

He is 15th in assists

He is 23rd in penalties drawn

He is 4th in hits

He is 37th in blocked shots

He is 9th in minutes played

I know these things don't matter to you, but they aren't irrelevant.

He's a flawed but useful player.

Trade him if you can make the team better, but don't think the team is going to automatically be better just because he's gone.

[Kong]

I'm afraid to make any kind of trade with our management in shambles.

[klos1963]

He has 1 year left on his contract then he becomes an UFA. I think there is zero chance that he wants to stay in Buffalo, so I think you'll get your wish. The Sabres will try to trade him this summer, I'm guessing.

[LGR4GM]

26 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Not all of us define a player's worth simply by the amount of shots taken while he's on the ice at even strength.

Rasmus Ristolainen is the 20th highest scoring defenceman in the entire league over the past 6 years. Those are excellent numbers.

He is 15th in assists

He is 23rd in penalties drawn

He is 4th in hits

He is 37th in blocked shots

He is 9th in minutes played

I know these things don't matter to you, but they aren't irrelevant.

He's a flawed but useful player.

Trade him if you can make the team better, but don't think the team is going to automatically be better just because he's gone.

Adjust those scoring numbers per 60. You already note he is 9th in minutes played, which explains a lot about his production. 

This team will be better if he is traded. 

Also hits... lmfao. What a worthless stat. 

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

The Islanders felt the same way about Chara.

Chara was 23 when the NYI traded him. 

Ristolainen will be 27 at the start of next year. 

[bob_sauve28]

I like Risto. I feel bad for him. I’d be for trading him but only to a good team. And if we got a decent goaltender in return, then I’d be ok with it. 

[LGR4GM]

52 minutes ago, Curt said:

Kind of, but pretty different situations.

Chara had just finished his age 23 season and 3rd full NHL season, while Risto this offseason will have just finished his age 26 season and 7th full NHL season.

Chara was not really that late of a bloomer by age 25 he was finishing top-10 in Norris voting.

Also, Chara was traded as part of a package for a star #1C, Yashin, along with a 1st and a 4th line F.

This is Risto's 8th pro season. 

Just now, bob_sauve28 said:

I like Risto. I feel bad for him. I’d be for trading him but only to a good team. And if we got a decent goaltender in return, then I’d be ok with it. 

I don't give a damn where we trade him. I am so sick and tired of this team bending over and getting bent over to find the places these players want to go. This team is a joke and disaster partly because of it. 

[SwampD]

This team is a joke because it doesn’t fix the actual problems with this team.

[LGR4GM]

Just now, SwampD said:

This team is a joke because it doesn’t fix the actual problems with this team.

Risto is an actual problem. He never has once tilted the ice in favor for his team. He gets force-fed minutes he can't handle and needs to go. It's time to move on from him and I honestly don' care how at this point. The Sabres royally ***** up when they didn't trade him for Ehlers when they had the chance. 

[Radar]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Risto is an actual problem. He never has once tilted the ice in favor for his team. He gets force-fed minutes he can't handle and needs to go. It's time to move on from him and I honestly don' care how at this point. The Sabres royally ***** up when they didn't trade him for Ehlers when they had the chance. 

Am I to assume you don't like Risto?🤔 I'm not against trading Risto but not just to get rid of him.

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, Radar said:

Am I to assume you don't like Risto?🤔 I'm not against trading Risto but not just to get rid of him.

Literally want him traded. Today, tomorrow, or in the summer but I want him gone. I am sick of watching his brand of defense "get the puck, throw it up the boards" rinse and repeat. If you can't trade him, expose him. Seattle probably won't take him because their analytics department will implode. 

[rakish]

3 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Literally want him traded. Today, tomorrow, or in the summer but I want him gone. I am sick of watching his brand of defense "get the puck, throw it up the boards" rinse and repeat. If you can't trade him, expose him. Seattle probably won't take him because their analytics department will implode. 

I think it depends if Seattle has an analytics team like Toronto's pre-Bogo or post-Bogo.

[Kruppstahl]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

He's not good. Either the goal is to get better or wallow in loser land. Trade him and move on. 

Risto is a 5 on a good team who plays on your 2nd pp. He requires better defenders (McCabe) to prop him up and make him mildly usable. His "grit" isn't worth the defensive gafs. He's 26, there's no magic growth in his game coming. 

Never had a positive corsi or xgf. Barely ever came close. 

We need to stop keeping these type of players. 

He's been demonstrably hot garbage for at least 5 years, and this is arguably his best season to date! 

Just wondering why this sentiment comes about now.

I think he would have been gone 2 or 3 years ago if he had anything close to the trade value Sabres fans think he has.

PS:  On a spineless team that loves to avoid contact, he is one of the very few who actually enjoys mucking it up and he is easily the biggest, strongest dude on the team.  Loves to hit people.

I will miss him in that regard, but he's gotta go.

Also, some of the current batch of young kids on the team are showing signs of being competitors, which is great to see.  Cozens is #1 on that list.

 

 

[Curt]

37 minutes ago, Kong said:

I'm afraid to make any kind of trade with our management in shambles.

This is a pointless type of fear.  Don’t trust them to make a trade, or sign players, or make draft picks.  Better to let him walk away in UFA?  Management can’t mess that transaction up at least.

[Curt]

25 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

This is Risto's 8th pro season. 

7th full season, which is what I said.

[Weave]

This team does not get better by his merely being gone.  Exposing him to the expansion draft is a stupid idea.  It is stupid because 4 coaches now have seen that he is the best option to force feed minutes.  With him gone and not replaced we will be force feeding minutes to the defenseman that was deemed the next best choice after Risto to force feed minutes.

Bad plan is bad.  Trade him to upgrade him, or better yet, upgrade the bottom pairing and slide his usage down a slot.

Now, the UFA thing after next year, that's a thing.  He's not likely to want to be back.  trading him to avoid losing him for a rental price is a legit argument.  Moving him because you don't like the way he plays even though the next guy in line will likely perform as bad in the same overused role is not a legit argument.

[dudacek]

39 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Adjust those scoring numbers per 60. You already note he is 9th in minutes played, which explains a lot about his production.

So his "good" stats are misleading because of his usage, but his fancy stats are not?

Is there a player in the NHL who plays more time in harder situations with worse teammates against better opponents?

[mjd1001]

6 hours ago, Eleven said:

The Islanders felt the same way about Chara.

Chara had only 4 years with the Islanders when they traded him, and only 2 of those full seasons. He was traded much earlier in his career development.  When traded he was viewed as a pretty valuable part...bring back Yashin to the Islanders (at the time that was thought of to be a good move for the Isles).

Risto now has 8 Seasons with the Sabres, the comparison to Chara really isn't too valid.

Personally, I don't know much about NHL systems, positioning, and all that stuff.  But what I do see with my own eyes is this....TOO many times when the opposition scores against the Sabres he is on the ice and not looking at the puck/shooter even when it seems like he is in the direct area.  By that I mean the puck is going to the eventual scorer or heading for the goal, he he is looking at a player skating away from the net, chasing someone into the corner that he wants to hit (for whatever reason even if it isn't involved in the play), or just doing SOMETHING other than stopping the goal from happening when he had the chance.

It seemed to be happening less in the first half of the year, but for the 3-4 years before that, and since he came back from Covid, he is back to the same habbits.  I know he can skate and hit and shoot the puck really well, but having that pure talent doesn't make up for the fact he is a bad hockey player.

The way you score goals is by controlling the puck and getting it out of your zone.  I don't care how talented he is, in addition to seeming being totally out of position when goals are scored against the Sabres, he also causes the puck to be in their zone instead of moving it out.  Too many times instead of battling for a puck on the wall and trying to take it away from an opponent, he simply goes in the corner like a bull to make a hit.....taking both the opposing player and himself out of the play.  You want to do that in the neutral zone or better yet the offensive zone then fine.  But when you do that in your OWN zone, you cause a loose puck that has a 50% chance of being picked up by an opponent less than 50 feet from your own net.

He has learned the individual skills to play hockey, but he hasn't leaned to play the complete GAME of hockey.

As the NHL game keeps evolving, I want my FORWARDS to be throwing hits against the other team. My D-men? I don't want them to get out of position, EVER. The only time they should be throwing a hit is if they read the play and there is very little positional downside to doing it.  It is the Forwards where the Sabres need more hitters on the forecheck. The D-men have to focus more on the puck. Risto is bad at that.

Edited May 2, 2021 by mjd1001

[tennessee dan]

He consistently makes bad decisions in his own end.  That has never improved.  He provides useful qualities in particular hitting.  We seem to have a wealth of young defensemen we want to protect and we are up against the cap for years.   Move him to Seattle under the promise that they will pluck Okposo off the roster.

[breese866]

Exposing him to expansion would be a huge mistake and is silly.  He is an excellent asset.  I don't get why people want to get rid of him.  He hustles and trys and acts like he wants to win.  He is not perfect, clearly, but no-one is.