Speculation: All-encompassing Ristolainen Thread

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

Really hope the Jets are no where near in on a Risto trade.

The Jets need a top 4 RHD to play on the top shut down pair with Morrissey.
That his not the strong part of Risto's game.
He has offensive upside but would be behind Buff for PP1 minutes.
We know Buff will miss some games but I'd rather invest those PP1 minutes into Morrissey who we need to re-sign next year.

Jets don't have cap space to add Risto at all.
The very idea of trading Ehlers for him is terrible asset management.
As stated earlier if that was the plan just sign Myers and buy out Kulikov and or Perreault (or trade with retention to make space).

Even if we buy the premise that Risto is better then Myers the difference between them is not Ehlers.

Jets won't make any moves until Laine and Connor are signed.
They are likely better off looking for a bargain from the unsigned players in September then paying a brutal price for Risto in a trade.

Winnipeg is a draft and develop team... keep Ehlers (who is signed to a good long term deal) and Roslovic's ELC's and move on.

Good luck to Buffalo with resolving this but please leave us out of it

 

[Hasekperreault23]

Really hope the Jets are no where near in on a Risto trade.

The Jets need a top 4 RHD to play on the top shut down pair with Morrissey.
That his not the strong part of Risto's game.
He has offensive upside but would be behind Buff for PP1 minutes.
We know Buff will miss some games but I'd rather invest those PP1 minutes into Morrissey who we need to re-sign next year.

Jets don't have cap space to add Risto at all.
The very idea of trading Ehlers for him is terrible asset management.
As stated earlier if that was the plan just sign Myers and buy out Kulikov and or Perreault (or trade with retention to make space).

Even if we buy the premise that Risto is better then Myers the difference between them is not Ehlers.

Jets won't make any moves until Laine and Connor are signed.
They are likely better off looking for a bargain from the unsigned players in September then paying a brutal price for Risto in a trade.

Winnipeg is a draft and develop team... keep Ehlers (who is signed to a good long term deal) and Roslovic's ELC's and move on.

Good luck to Buffalo with resolving this but please leave us out of it

I agree with your premise.As a sabre fan i would rather see what he can do as a 2nd pairing guy with more depth around him.We are not get an Ehlers type of player for him right now.He will be on our 2ND PP,top PK unit and get lots of offensive starts along with a nasty streak.Keep him at 20 minutes a night and see what you got.If he doesn't improve as a 2nd pairing then trade him for futures

 

[57special]

Russo has recently said that he thinks that there is a better chance that Spurgeon will be moved than signed, for a variety of reasons, none of which have to do with Spurgeon the player, or person(both of which are exceptional).

I think a Risto/Spurgeon trade makes some sense for both teams, assuming that the trade is contingent on Spurgeon signing with the Sabres. BUF gets a no doubt, 1st pair veteran dman who should pair well with Dahlin, as he has with Suter. Wild can pair the talented but defensively challenged Risto with a rock solid LD in either Suter or Brodin.

The Wild get a younger RHD with talent who would probably benefit from the responsible defensive system that they have.

Buf get a solid top 30 Dman who could go a long way towards solidifying their D and adding excellent leadership.

MN gets a younger player. Buf gets a better player.


I know Risto didn't have the best season, but I still think he is a very talented player who has been left to develop on his own at a very young age, and it might have caught up with him last year.

 

[tbcwpg]

Russo has recently said that he thinks that there is a better chance that Spurgeon will be moved than signed, for a variety of reasons, none of which have to do with Spurgeon the player, or person(both of which are exceptional).

I think a Risto/Spurgeon trade makes some sense for both teams, assuming that the trade is contingent on Spurgeon signing with the Sabres. BUF gets a no doubt, 1st pair veteran dman who should pair well with Dahlin, as he has with Suter. Wild can pair the talented but defensively challenged Risto with a rock solid LD in either Suter or Brodin.

The Wild get a younger RHD with talent who would probably benefit from the responsible defensive system that they have.

Buf get a solid top 30 Dman who could go a long way towards solidifying their D and adding excellent leadership.

MN gets a younger player. Buf gets a better player.


I know Risto didn't have the best season, but I still think he is a very talented player who has been left to develop on his own at a very young age, and it might have caught up with him last year.

I'd say on value, Risto for Spurgeon would rival Trouba for Pionk and a 1st in one sided trades this summer. If Spurgeon does get moved, I would think Minnesota would have a lot of suitors that can offer more than Ristolainen.

 

[57special]

the other problem would be getting Spurgeon to sign in BUF. He has been said to be only interested in signing with a team that is a contender. Sabres have some talent, but they can hardly be called a powerhouse. He'd have to be sold on their young players and prospects....also is buddies with Scandella.

 

[Fogelhund]

https://www.tsn.ca/buffalo-gm-jason...lainen-in-positions-to-have-success-1.1352936

Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill is doing his best to downplay trade rumours surrounding defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen.
Botterill told The Buffalo News on Saturday that he was not caught off guard by Ristolainen's comments about "being at one of the NHL team's training camps" to a Finnish news outlet earlier this month, but added the team is working to better their relationship with him.
"I was not surprised, not disappointed," Botterill said. "Look, there’s always stories coming out when players go back, and Finland’s had an amazing year with (gold medals in the) World Juniors and World Championships.
"But you just look in the past week or two, there’s stories from other organizations and stuff too, coming out of Finland. So those are something we can’t control. What we can control is our interaction with our player, with our group here."
When asked about his future earlier this summer, Ristolainen also told MTV Sports that he hasn't been able to enjoy playing hockey during the Sabres' recent losing seasons.
"We’re continuing to try to set this team up where we’re putting 'Risto' in positions to have success," Botterill continued. "Yeah, he wants to win. We also want to put him in a situation where he plays very well, and that’s what we’ve tried to do with some of the acquisitions, add depth to our defence, add competition to our defence."
Ristolainen, 24, scored five goals and posted 43 points in 78 games this season while averaging 24:38 of ice time. He finished the season with a league-worst minus-41 rating.
Botterilll added that the additions of defencemen Colin Miller and Henri Jokiharju on the right side this summer should not be taken as sign that Ristolainen is now expendable.
"I said it at the end of the regular season, I talked a lot about forwards, having four lines that could score," Botterill said. "But it’s the same thing from the defence standpoint. That’s why we’ve tried to add to our group, to ease some of the responsibility from certain players."

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

https://www.tsn.ca/buffalo-gm-jason...lainen-in-positions-to-have-success-1.1352936

Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill is doing his best to downplay trade rumours surrounding defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen.
Botterill told The Buffalo News on Saturday that he was not caught off guard by Ristolainen's comments about "being at one of the NHL team's training camps" to a Finnish news outlet earlier this month, but added the team is working to better their relationship with him.

The bolded strikes me as a quintessentially Finnish sense of humor.

 

[boredmale]

HockeyBuzz.com - Eklund - RFA Update...Rantanen Deal Close? Islanders and Sabres Talk Trade (e3)

Islanders and Sabres talking deal?

I am hearing the Isles have put together a VERY strong offer for Rasmus Ristolainen....working on getting the names, but I am told the deal includes a first-round pick.

Just throwing this out since I am bored but makes 0 sense from the Islanders because it already looks like RHD is going to stay up giving us 8 defensemen. Only way this works for the Islanders is if Buffalo takes RHD Boychuk back(very unlikely they want that salary/term, even more so he has a NTC) or the Islanders have another trade lined up that they can trade one of their defensemen(and I am not talking about Hickey who right now slots 7/8 who is probably on the block for best offer)

 

[Mattilaus]

HockeyBuzz.com - Eklund - RFA Update...Rantanen Deal Close? Islanders and Sabres Talk Trade (e3)

Just throwing this out since I am bored but makes 0 sense from the Islanders because it already looks like RHD is going to stay up giving us 8 defensemen. Only way this works for the Islanders is if Buffalo takes RHD Boychuk back(very unlikely they want that salary/term, even more so he has a NTC) or the Islanders have another trade lined up that they can trade one of their defensemen(and I am not talking about Hickey who right now slots 7/8 who is probably on the block for best offer)

There should be a way to tag individual posts with "Eklund"

 

[Stubu]

I'd still like a trade from LA for Adrian Kempe, or Winnipeg for Roslovic. Each would fill the void at 3C for the Sabres.

Winnipeg has done "Roslovic at C" experiments from time to time for two or three seasons now. There's been a need for 3C (and hope for 2C) but he hasn't clinched a mid-6 center spot over Little, Lowry, Copp. Could be he's more of a winger. Buyer beware. Some Jets fan could chime in for more recent insight though.

 

[Fjordy]

Risto looked good in pre-season games, but it's Eklund and it's not very clear what the Islanders can give us for to solve our problems with top 6.

 

[TFHockey]

As a fantasy hockey owner all I can say is I would like Risto to be one of the pallbearers at my funeral.. so he can let me down one last time.

 

[I Like Eich]

As a fantasy hockey owner all I can say is I would like Risto to be one of the pallbearers at my funeral.. so he can let me down one last time.

Unless your league counts +/-, fantasy hockey is about the only thing Risto has been consistently good at. 4 straight 40 pt years with around 20 PP pts every season, despite the Sabres team as a whole ranging anywhere from bad to completely embarrassing during that time span. With how late he should be being drafted in fantasy drafts due to all the negative chatter surrounding him all offseason, he's actually a pretty safe 3rd/4th fantasy D for your roster.

It's the stuff that's not on the fantasy hockey stat sheet that kills us. He has all the offensive talent needed to be a top pair defenseman, but the fact is he's just not good in his own zone. Out of position often, poor zone exit pass attempts and puck decisions in general time and time again. It's just become stale here.

 

[I Like Eich]

The Sabres have the luxury of being patient looking for a deal they really like because he has term left on his deal, and the cap hit although not great (5.4) is not awful for a 2nd line RHD age 24. I do think BUF would've ideally liked to trade him this offseason, especially after acquiring Colin Miller, but Botterill may be hesitant to pull the trigger on any package-offers where he's likely dealing the most valuable asset, given how much of a disaster the ROR deal was.


I still think WPG is the best fit. They have tons of offensive talent ready to win now, they cant afford to take a step back this year. And with Big Buff's future in question they have pretty close to zero options at RD currently. Risto can step into a major role on the PP immediately if needed and will eat up minutes in general, which WPG needs. I absolutely think he will improve and possibly even thrive if he's traded to the right team and the right situation (kind of like ROR)

But I think BUF wants Ehlers (or Laine.... ha ha.) for Risto + prospect/pick. WPG is probably more interested in something around Roslovic + Perreault for Risto.

So alas here we are with Risto still on the Sabres... recent injuries at defense have made dealing him before the season starts a lot less likely than it was just a few weeks ago. Fully expecting him to be on BUF still opening night. Cheers to another 75-80 point season for the Sabres

 

[TFHockey]

Unless your league counts +/-, fantasy hockey is about the only thing Risto has been consistently good at. 4 straight 40 pt years with around 20 PP pts every season, despite the Sabres team as a whole ranging anywhere from bad to completely embarrassing during that time span. With how late he should be being drafted in fantasy drafts due to all the negative chatter surrounding him all offseason, he's actually a pretty safe 3rd/4th fantasy D for your roster.

It's the stuff that's not on the fantasy hockey stat sheet that kills us. He has all the offensive talent needed to be a top pair defenseman, but the fact is he's just not good in his own zone. Out of position often, poor zone exit pass attempts and puck decisions in general time and time again. It's just become stale here.

It does.

 

[lifeisruff]

Winnipeg has done "Roslovic at C" experiments from time to time for two or three seasons now. There's been a need for 3C (and hope for 2C) but he hasn't clinched a mid-6 center spot over Little, Lowry, Copp. Could be he's more of a winger. Buyer beware. Some Jets fan could chime in for more recent insight though.

Even if Roslovic isn't a center, we could still use a guy like him on a line with say Skinner (EDIT: or Vesey or Olofsson) and Eichel. After the return on Faulk I'm ruling out Ehlers as a viable trade option, to say nothing of Laine or Connor.

 

[I Like Eich]

It does.

ah well yeah that knocks him down a few notches. some leagues are starting not to use +/- anymore as a category. If Risto gets traded to a good team, he'll be a good value pick... thats your best bet haha

 

[I Like Eich]

Even if Roslovic isn't a center, we could still use a guy like him on a line with say Skinner and Eichel. After the return on Faulk I'm ruling out Ehlers as a viable trade option, to say nothing of Laine or Connor.

I agree, I also think Perreault would be more valuable than a handful of our bottom-6 sadly.

The Faulk return was really not that bad imo... he's like a poor man's Risto to me. He's a little older than Risto and that extension he just signed is for 7 years, which is way too long, and for a higher AAV. For having a 59% OZS% and being on a very good Carolina team last year, Faulk's possession metrics aren't super impressive either.


I would add something serious to Risto in a package offer to get Ehlers... I think he'd fit really well in the top-6 playing with Eichel or Reinhart (or both). Understand the Jets reluctance to move him though even though RHD is a pressing need.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Ristolainen to Winnipeg for Copp, Samberg, 2020 1st?

 

[jrs]

Ristolainen to Winnipeg for Copp, Samberg, 2020 1st?

This is the worst overpayment I’ve ever seen

 

[Der Jaeger]

This is the worst overpayment I’ve ever seen

On HF boards? You new?

 

[Hunter368]

Ristolainen to Winnipeg for Copp, Samberg, 2020 1st?

No thx

 

[Stubu]

This is the worst overpayment I’ve ever seen

Ristolainen for Copp, Samberg, 2020 1st?

If not Copp and Samberg, who then?

 

[Dahlin 2 Eichel]

Ristolainen for Copp, Samberg, 2020 1st?

If not Copp and Samberg, who then?

Risto won’t be getting traded.

 

[Stubu]

On HF boards? You new?

Stop it. Everyone's welcome. Even if they're fooking stupido like me, or just more jerks like the growing Carolina fan base.