Buffalo Sabres Rasmus Ristolainen Proving His Worth At World Cup
The Buffalo Sabres No.1 blueliner is proving his head coach wrong – in a good way!
Back in August, Buffalo Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma had this to say in an interview with WGR 550 about blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen:
"We asked a lot of him [Ristolainen]. We put him into a lot of tough situations and I think some of the numbers that roll out on him as far as Corsi and possession do reflect that, but frankly we played him too much at times. He’s not going to like to hear this, but he’s not a guy that should be getting 28 to 30 minutes per night although we did it to him and we put him in those situations. His number should be in the 24 minute per game range and that’s where you’ll see him be at this next year and his numbers will improve too because of that."
Whether or not Bylsma was trying to be insulting when he said that Risto is not a guy who should be getting 28 to 30 minutes a night – well, I’ll leave that up to you. (The fact that the Sabres have yet to re-sign Ristolainen certainly could affect the way you interpret those words.) There is no shadow of a doubt that Risto is the Sabres’ best blueliner, and his offensive production ranked him among the NHL’s top-25 defensemen . . . but is Ristolainen on his way to becoming what we would consider an “elite” defenseman who would be worth 28 to 30 minutes of ice time per game, especially come playoff time?
If his performance in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey pre-tournament games that Team Finland has played is any indication, then the answer has to be a resounding, “Hell yes, you dim-witted blogging idiot.”
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Yes, these are just preliminary games we’re discussing here, and we’ll monitor his progress once WCH games actually begin meaning something. So far though, Risto has played one of the best defenseman in the tournament. He managed to score 3 points in 3 games (tied for 2nd-best among all blueliners) including one on the power play, and is a -2 across the 3 games Finland played. Perspective: those 3 games included two against Sweden (who many have deemed the favorites to win the 2016 WCH), and another against Team USA. Finland beat Sweden 3-2 in OT in their first matchup, and then dropped consecutive games against Sweden (6-3) and the US (3-2).
In Finland’s win against Sweden, Risto was +/- 0 in 26:29 of ice time against the likes of Nicklas Backstrom, Gabriel Landeskog, Erik Karlsson, and the Sedin brothers – not exactly an offensively-challenged group. Ristolainen also managed to earn a +/- of 0 against Team USA in 24:58 of TOI. Toss out Finland’s 6-3 loss to Sweden, and Risto was even through the pre-tournament games. Not a bad way to start what is essentially a tournament that consists of 8 All-Star teams.
So if Ristolainen can log anywhere from 24 to 26 TOI in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, is it insulting to say he should not be playing 28+ minutes per ice for the Buffalo Sabres once 2016-17 begins?
On one hand, no. If you look at the NHL’s top-50 defensemen from 2015-16, you’ll notice that only six blueliners averaged over 26 minutes of ice time per contest: Karlsson, Kris Letang, Drew Doughty, P.K. Subban, Ryan Suter, and Alex Pietrangelo. That’s it, folks, so maybe what coach Bylsma was saying is that very few, if any, NHL blueliners should log 28+ minutes of ice time per night. The longer a defenseman is on the ice, the more fatigue sets in, increasing the number of mental lapses and sloppy mistakes that will occur. This might have been what caused Bylsma to make the comment about Risto’s ice time.
On the other hand, even if most NHL d-men log 25 minutes or less of ice time per night, Ristolainen is the Buffalo Sabres’ best blueliner, and one of the league’s top-25, statistically speaking. If the Sabres absolutely have to play a blueliner over 25 minutes here and there, it damn well ought to be Risto. Again, I’m not sure if Bylsma was taking a not-so-subtle dig at Risto when he said, “he’s not a guy who should be getting 28 to 30 minutes per night,” but it sure sounded like it. As much as I don’t want to see the Sabres over-use any player, with their defensive corps as weak as it is, I’ll take Risto for 28 minutes instead of Plan B most days of the week.
Next: Sabres NHL 17 Defense And Goaltender Ratings
The Buffalo Sabres have one of the NHL’s best young defenseman in Rasmus Ristolainen, and I hope he absolutely plays like a monster in the 2016 WCH. There’s no reason in my mind why he has not been signed yet, but a solid showing in the tournament should result in a nice pay day for him. He continues to prove his worth to the team, even though his coach might still be on the fence.