Player Discussion Rasmus Ristolainen

GOALOFSSON

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Jun 6, 2018
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45% corsi starting in the defensive zone 61% of the time. Don't look now but hes on pace for 40+ points without playing on PP1. Hilarious that you're trying to defend yourself saying hes a #7 at best.

Risto being a #7 might be on par with Skinner being a 45 point player.
 

La Cosa Nostra

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Jun 25, 2009
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Ristos corsi only looks as bad as it does due to one game. The Kings game he was 6-25 which is just over 19% CF. We also won that game 3-0 and the shots were kept to outside/low danger areas. As the season progresses Ristos possession #s will get closer to 50%.

And when you play 24+ mins, over 20 ES mins a night, have to start over 61% of your zone starts in the DZ in order to allow your more offensively talented dmen like Dahlin to get 56% ozs your corsi is going to suffer.

I think Risto will and should be here long term. He is turning 25 years old and still has 2 more full years. When his deal expires he will only be turning 28 a few weeks into the season when his new deal kicks in. You can give Risto 7 years and that deal would expire before he even turns 35.
 

La Cosa Nostra

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Over 26 minutes tonight. +1. 3 Blocked Shots. 5 Hits. And was an absolute beast on the PK and at the end defending the lead.

Risto was damn good tonight. He has been a lot more careful with the puck and he is just giving us good tough minutes.
 
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Moskau

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Over 26 minutes tonight. +1. 3 Blocked Shots. 5 Hits. And was an absolute beast on the PK and at the end defending the lead.

Risto was damn good tonight. He has been a lot more careful with the puck and he is just giving us good tough minutes.
We were out shot 3 to 1 when he was on the ice. He was great in the final 2 minutes but he should look good in the final minutes of a game since he's had plenty of practice playing in his own zone his entire career.

People saying he's going to look a lot better when he's facing the competition he should be should look at the Kings and Red Wings games. He faced plenty of 3rd and 4th line players in those games are they still ran the ice when he was out there.

If there was a designated hitter type position in Hockey where you could dress a guy to only play in certain situations then Risto would be a beast. Just throw him out there for the final 2 minutes to lock down a lead. In his own end for 2 minutes straight, he would be right at home.
 

joshjull

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Aug 2, 2005
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We were out shot 3 to 1 when he was on the ice. He was great in the final 2 minutes but he should look good in the final minutes of a game since he's had plenty of practice playing in his own zone his entire career.

People saying he's going to look a lot better when he's facing the competition he should be should look at the Kings and Red Wings games. He faced plenty of 3rd and 4th line players in those games are they still ran the ice when he was out there.

If there was a designated hitter type position in Hockey where you could dress a guy to only play in certain situations then Risto would be a beast. Just throw him out there for the final 2 minutes to lock down a lead. In his own end for 2 minutes straight, he would be right at home.

If we’re being fair about the Kings and Red wings games then we have to be fair about the circumstances of each game.

The Kings game was 2nd game of a B2B and the 3rd in 4 nights on a road trip. The entire team was shot and under siege from about half way through the 1st period by every line the Kings rolled out. It stands to reason the d-pair playing the most minutes in that game was going to get buried. The next game McCabe/Risto had a great game from start to finish controlling possession, scoring chances and goal share.

The Red Wings was the 2nd game of a B2B with two new d-pairs that quickly turned into a scramble when McCabe went out. It led to Risto playing more than even he normally does 5v5. Then we sat back in the 3rd with a 2-0 lead. We’ll see how the next game goes.


Risto got buried in games (Kings/red Wings) were the circumstances make it understandable. If this was happening every night then I could see the complaint. I mean Risto is what he is. His play to date is found money so far.
 

La Cosa Nostra

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To the people who want to trade Risto to upgrade the top 6 (not even going to bother with the ones who think dumping Risto for nothing would be a net positive), who is going to replace his minutes let alone do the heavy lefting Risto does.

Miller has been so so lately after a good start. Dahlin has struggled big time defensively. Joki has been solid and great for us but he is also a 20 year old with 50 games under his belt. Montour is coming back from injury. You lose Risto and his ability to play high end #1 minutes and now you are giving responsibility to players who are not ready for it. Jokis game will suffer big time if he starts getting 55+ dzs. Dahlin like I said has been mediocre defensively. Miller has to rebound also.

Our D and goaltending have shut out 1/4th of our games so far. Risto is a huge part of it considering he plays about 40% of the game and the most at ES and in the DZ. Just don't see trading Risto for a 50 point forward makes us better.
 

SpinninRodIntoArmpit

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Risto got interviewed by a Finnish hockey podcast:
- On Sabres good start: too early to celebrate, emphasized the importance of all five guys being on the same page. Last few years guys got overconfident from winning. Better work ethic in training now, actually seeing guys at the gym unlike some seasons. More professional.
- On trade speculations: said that he doesn't think about it too much. Also said Sabres have too many defencemen right now.
- On his own game: Trying to be more consistent. Also said he likes to play Western teams - more physical, bigger guys.

Source (in Finnish): Total NHL Forever - Rasmus Ristolaisen erikoishaastattelu - joka tuskin jättää ketään kylmäksi

I was listening while writing. Risto also added following: New coaching has a more simplified system than previously. More freedom for players. Said they previously had like 17 different faceoff-formations and other stuff like that.
 
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Buffaloed

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Risto got interviewed by a Finnish hockey podcast:

I was listening while writing. Risto also added following: New coaching has a more simplified system than previously. More freedom for players. Said they previously had like 17 different faceoff-formations and other stuff like that.

Krueger recognized that they don't win any faceoffs so they were able to eliminate half the formations right away. :laugh:
 

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Peter The Great
Aug 17, 2005
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I really like Ristolainen, tons of potential, entertaining player as well good at hitting, reminding me a bit of Zadorov?
 

TheDawnOfANewTage

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Dec 17, 2018
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To the people who want to trade Risto to upgrade the top 6 (not even going to bother with the ones who think dumping Risto for nothing would be a net positive), who is going to replace his minutes let alone do the heavy lefting Risto does.

Miller has been so so lately after a good start. Dahlin has struggled big time defensively. Joki has been solid and great for us but he is also a 20 year old with 50 games under his belt. Montour is coming back from injury. You lose Risto and his ability to play high end #1 minutes and now you are giving responsibility to players who are not ready for it. Jokis game will suffer big time if he starts getting 55+ dzs. Dahlin like I said has been mediocre defensively. Miller has to rebound also.

Our D and goaltending have shut out 1/4th of our games so far. Risto is a huge part of it considering he plays about 40% of the game and the most at ES and in the DZ. Just don't see trading Risto for a 50 point forward makes us better.

1000% this. I think you trade whichever Dman gives you outsized value, and Risto ain't it. He's playing better but his rep is still mud, and there's a gaping whole in the D if we lose him. I'd see what Scandella or McCabe gets us first, then move to Montour or Miller if the return still isn't right. Whichever one of those guys gets us a more than fair deal, move that guy. Dahlin is untouchable, Risto is too much of a horse to move. He's still only 25, he plays 25 minutes a night, he's on a good deal, he's a physical presence, and he's a +0 this year. I'm cool with just letting him eat half the even strength minutes a game and hoping the other guys can handle easier assignments and get us in the W column.
 
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Chainshot

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It’s also interesting to note that Ralph Krueger is sheltering this pairing with offensive zone starts. Natural Stat Trick has them at an 87.05% offensive zone start rate. He’s putting this pairing in a position that helps reduce how often they’re forced to defend.
 

Kyndig

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Jan 3, 2012
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On the stretch he has been paired with Montour?

Not entirely sure how to look at recent games other than the game log which has some numbers that cannot be right.

44.44% against the Blues.

100% against the Oilers.

28.57% against the Canucks.

With the way it's calculated it ends up being 60% OZS over those three games. 15 OZS vs 10 DZS...so I still dunno where they got that number from. Even if you remove the most recent game against the Blues it comes out to 68%. If you count neutral zone as an OZS (which makes no sense)it still comes up short at 82% over those 3 games.
 
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flashsabre

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Apr 5, 2003
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I see no reason to move Risto. He is having a good season and has a physical package that can’t be found. Putting him in situations to excel is the key and they have enough dmen that they don’t have to overuse him anymore. Bogo and McCabe would be the two guys I would move on from.
 

RecycledEichel

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He's now a +9, starting to get on the stat sheet more regularly and his contract is starting to look like one with good value to it.

Only trade him for something big, otherwise he's an asset that can be a big part of our team
 

Kyndig

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Jan 3, 2012
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He's now a +9, starting to get on the stat sheet more regularly and his contract is starting to look like one with good value to it.

Only trade him for something big, otherwise he's an asset that can be a big part of our team

+10 *

not that I care about the stat tbh.
 

explore

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He's now a +9, starting to get on the stat sheet more regularly and his contract is starting to look like one with good value to it.

Only trade him for something big, otherwise he's an asset that can be a big part of our team

We're probably going to lose one of our dmen in the expansion draft, and based on Botts recently trading for Jokiharju and Montour, I think Risto is the most likely the one to be left unprotected. Stinks, because he's a good dman when he isn't playing exhausted, but Montour is showing a lot of promise and so is Jokiharju.

I would personally protect Risto over Montour because Risto is signed for longer on a fair contract, and Montour is an RFA, but Montour has better scoring potential than Risto.
 

La Cosa Nostra

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I would give Vegas a 1st if they took Okposo off our hands. He would only have 2 years left on his deal.

I do not want to lose any of the Big 4. Risto, Joki, Dahlin and Montour is a fantastic top 4 for the next 7-8 years.

Risto needs to be shown some love. He has been awesome the last 10 games. Our D would have been lost with him not in the lineup since we have picked it up. RK has found Ristos sweet spot for deployment. Montour-Risto can be an elite 2nd pair for years to come. Both are under 26.

Through 33 games Risto has 15 points, +10, a little over 23 mins a game, leads the team in hits and is still logging heavy D zone deployment. He has been shit on every year because of his +/- so it is only right he gets some praise for getting up to a +10 40% into the season.

All of the I would trade Risto for a 7th or the Sabres would be better if Risto was given away for free type posts should be tossed right into the trash. Risto IS a top pairing dman period. He will end up near 40 points once again but this time post a decent +/-. Risto is probably the 3rd or 4th biggest reason we have been better after Jack of course along with VO, Ullmark and Krueger.
 

tellermine

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Oct 21, 2018
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Ristolainen is actually impressive.
He gives everything for the team and that is something in mercenary sports.

Also somehow defence looks solid. Seems that he has found balance. In many ways. :P (he does not fall all the time)
 

5 Minute Major

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We're probably going to lose one of our dmen in the expansion draft, and based on Botts recently trading for Jokiharju and Montour, I think Risto is the most likely the one to be left unprotected. Stinks, because he's a good dman when he isn't playing exhausted, but Montour is showing a lot of promise and so is Jokiharju.

I would personally protect Risto over Montour because Risto is signed for longer on a fair contract, and Montour is an RFA, but Montour has better scoring potential than Risto.

If you think A defenseman like Rostolainen or Montour will be available in the expansion draft I don't know what to tell you. A trade should be made before that happens.

If it does happen, Botterill should be run out of town on a rail.
 

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