Buffalo Sabres Midseason Report Card: Rasmus Ristolainen

The Buffalo Sabres are on a five-game losing streak. In those five games, Rasmus Ristolainen has notched two assists, but is a minus-6 after playing over 24 minutes each night.

He’s been struggling lately – but how would you rate his season thus far overall?

The Buffalo Sabres are through 40 games, so to further look at Ristolainen’s season, we broke things down into 10-game segments.

For comparison’s sake, we’ll also look at Cody Franson and Josh Gorges, the only other two Sabres defensemen to have appeared in all 40 games this season.

Ristolainen registered five points (1-4) in the first 10 games of the season for Buffalo Sabres, but was a minus-5. He ate some pretty decent minutes, playing over 22 minutes in each of the Buffalo Sabres’ first ten games, and took 294 shifts.

In those first ten games, Franson had four points and was a minus-7. He didn’t play quite as much as Risto, serving 262 shifts.

More from Sabre Noise

• 3 biggest standouts at Buffalo Sabres 2023 Prospects Challenge
• 3 takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres final Prospects Challenge game
• Buffalo Sabres experiment with lesser-known talent in loss to Pens
• Buffalo Sabres 75 Bold Predictions for 2023-24: Prediction 51
• Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh: A quick look at the Penguins prospects

Gorges had just one point, an assist, and was a minus-4. He ate bigger minutes than Franson and ended the first ten games with 270 shifts.

In the next ten games, Ristolainen upped his point production with seven points (3-4) in 10 games. He wrapped up those ten games as a minus-2 (so minus-7 overall on the season).

But he once again ate huge minutes, including a season-high 29:01 on November 14. He had 310 shifts and played at least 21 minutes in nine of the ten games.

Franson was also productive in that section of games, with five points (2-3) and a plus-4 in 257 shifts, once again not playing as many minutes as Risto.

Gorges had one assist and was a plus-1 with 291 shifts in that batch of games.

In the following ten games, Ristolainen exploded for ten points, including his first career NHL hat trick. He finished as a plus-2, putting him at a minus-5 overall for the season.

He played at least 21 minutes every night and had a total of 330 shifts.

In that same stretch, Franson had a pair of assists and a zero plus/minus with 254 shifts, while Gorges had three points (1-2) and was a plus-1 in 300 shifts.

Finally, the most recent ten games. Ristolainen has four points, all assists, but is a minus-4 in the last ten games for the Buffalo Sabres. He’s played over 24 minutes in each of the last ten games and is constantly being counted on to play big minutes, night in and night out.

In that same stretch, Franson has two points (1-1) and a zero plus/minus in 224 shifts. Gorges has one point, but is a minus-5 in 273 shifts. Ristolainen: 304 shifts.

Perhaps the interesting news of the January 7th morning was that Ristolainen was potentially skating as the extra D at practice:

This is certainly an interesting move by Dan Bylsma, as many Buffalo Sabres fans would say that Ristolainen has been one of the team’s top defensemen lately.

So, what grade do I give Ristolainen almost midway through the season? B+.

Realistically, it’s not that easy.

You can look at him on his own, where he’s having a decent season, even with a “rough patch” lately, and has been playing such big minutes, especially impressive for a young blueliner.

You can look at him in the bigger context among his fellow Buffalo Sabres defensemen, and he’s been arguably playing the most – and maybe the best – of any of those guys. He’s third overall on the team in scoring, behind only your two biggest forwards, Ryan O’Reilly and Jack Eichel, and is on pace for 55 points this season. Impressive.

You can also look at him in the wider context of the NHL overall, where his average ice time is 13th among defensemen in the league, he’s ninth in shots among D and 13th in points among blueliners.

Either way you spin it – it isn’t bad, and Ristolainen could’ve been an All-Star contender had the NHL’s format not changed. What he does in the second half of the season, and going forward, could be huge, and Risto is poised to be one of the Sabres’ top defensemen for years to come.

Next: O'Reilly Named NHL All-Star

What grade would you award the Buffalo Sabres blueliner?