Ristolainen is a important player.

How??????

Giving Ristolainen away here.

Thats a lot of minutes disappearing from the blue line, and that first pair is kinda scary, theyre still very young

A lot of minutes that Risto hurts the Sabres when on the ice. Our first pair with Dahlin and Joki played very well last year and put the Sabres in a better position then anytime Risto is on the ice. I believe NJ makes out in this trade but to save 5.4 mil this year and next year helps the Sabres out a lot and getting a 30 goal scorer in Hoffman for this year greatly impacts the team in a way more positive effect then sitting tight and have a defensive casualty like Risto out there.

Someone has to dig the puck out of the net after he makes a stupid play. Ristolainen has had years of experience doing both...

sign me up

As much of a headache as he is, he still is our top minute eating defenseman and one of the top ten power play point producers in the league from the blue line, although, last year was a down year there. He also is one of the few physical defenseman and is also one of the few D we have that can play on the pk, albeit he’s not optimal there at all, and he also showed he can play in the front of the net on the PP which is something we lack right now, which is why we dealt for Simmonds ( to not use him there). Maybe that’s a role for Tage Thompson someday as well as Cozens and Staal. And he also did improve under Kreuger and fits the system.

Ideally the goal is for Dahlin to grow into the number one minute eating role, and he Will.But for now, Ristolainen is occupying a lot of roles and a lot of minutes for the team.

The problem here is number one; the Devils do not need Ristolainen and especially in a pandemic economic setting are unlikely to deal Ristolainen unless Subban is going the other way. The Devils are in a beautiful position cap wise, and I don’t expect them to take on a 5.4 million dollar defenseman who they can’t protect in the expansion draft and who they don’t need. Right now if you were to prorate Ristolainens salary for the current climate, he’s probably a 4/4.5m a year D.

There’s also a surplus of trade candidates and UFA options that remain and not enough buyers for a RHD, so with all that it’s a tough sell.

Right now I see Philadelphia as the only true fit for a trade

Quote people so they get notifications. Risto isnt as bad as this website claims, he doesnt hurt the Sabres and our defense is much better than you think

Please show me how since Risto has been here that our defense is much better than I think? Is it all the analytics that show he's bad. Is it the most years in a row without playoffs. Is it all his give aways in his own zone. I'm not a plus minus guy but is it is -145 in his career or never even being a plus in a year.

https://www.naturalstattrick.com/teamtable.php?fromseason=20192020&thruseason=20192020&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=n&team=all&loc=B&gpf=410&fd=&td=
Sabres D is top 10 on most advanced d stats, Risto eats by far the most minutes, His +/- with Krueger also improved dramatically, also plus minus is an antiquated metric until people need something for their argument. plus minus means almost nothing. Risto plays the majority of his minutes against the top lines of the league as well.

I said Im not a plus minus guy I think its a terrible state but I'm just covering all aspects that hes a liablility when on the ice. Give this a read because he actually stay the same to got slightly worse under krueger

https://www.expectedbuffalo.com/did-rasmus-ristolainen-actually-improve-under-ralph-krueger/

That article cherry picks 4 offensive numbers with no context