Buffalo Sabres: Now is not the time to trade Rasmus Ristolainen

Despite trade speculation ramping up in respect of Rasmus Ristolainen, the Buffalo Sabres would be better served not moving the defenseman at this stage.

Should he stay or should he go? That’s the question facing the Buffalo Sabres, when it comes to Rasmus Ristolainen. There have been strikingly different rumors of late, about whether or not Ristolainen will be traded.

On the one hand, Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News wrote as recently as the weekend that the Finland international will be dealt. This is in stark contrast to comments from TSN‘s Darren Dreger, who claims it’s unlikely the player is leaving Western New York.

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The truth of the situation – as is often the case in scenarios with opposing standpoints – is likely somewhere in the middle. The Sabres would prefer to keep their right-shot defenseman but will let him go if a team meets their asking price.

This has apparently been the issue, with teams around the NHL balking at the said asking price. However, why wouldn’t the Sabres make high demands in return for Ristolainen?

After all, we’re talking about a player who is extremely durable and logs major minutes. The 24-year-old has led the team in average ice time in each of the four previous seasons, while only missing 20 games during five full campaigns in Buffalo.

Ristolainen is good for 40+ points per season. He is especially talented when it comes to setting up others, as evidenced by finishing the 2018-19 campaign with the third-most assists on the team.

The Turku, Finland native has excellent size (although he still needs to take more advantage of this when it comes to the physical aspect of his game). Overall, he is an all-around talent who is still young enough to continue improving.

When taking all of this into account, it might actually be a blessing that other teams don’t want to pay the Sabres’ asking price. In truth, you can argue the team shouldn’t be looking to move him at this stage anyway.

As things stand, the Swords will be short-handed on the blue line when the 2019-20 season starts. For example, both Zach Bogosian and Lawrence Pilut are currently recovering from injury and neither is projected to be ready when October arrives.

Even the recent addition of Colin Miller – you can read about what he offers here, courtesy of Puck Prose‘ Dave Stevenson – doesn’t change the situation that much. The Sabres need all the help they can get to put together a defense which gives them a fighting chance to compete for that elusive playoff spot. In this respect, Ristolainen is more important than ever to the team.

This is not to say the 2013 eighth overall draft pick doesn’t have his flaws. In particular, he receives criticism about his defensive-zone coverage and penchant for still making too many mental errors.

Further, people will no doubt point to Ristolainen’s plus/minus rating of -41, which was the worst in the entire league last season. (The plus-minus statistic has its critics – and understandably so – but there is still some value in it.)

However, the combination of the Swedish international’s upside, skill, size and durability make him an invaluable asset at this juncture. And the smart move is to keep hold of that asset for now, as opposed to trading him.

Of course, one final consideration to factor into all of this, is the player himself and what he would like to do, i.e. would he like to stay or go? As tweeted on Saturday by Lance Lysowki of The Buffalo News, he asked Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill if Ristolainen had requested a trade.

In response, Botterill said he prefers to keep conversations with players private. As you’d expect, people attempted to read between the lines, with the GM’s refusal to say “no” as a sign a trade had been requested.

However, even if this is the case, Ristolainen still has three seasons remaining on his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent. The Sabres’ are in a strong position to do what is best for the organization, which means holding onto the player unless another team comes in with an offer which proves too good to turn down.

What would you do with Ristolainen if you were in the Buffalo Sabres’ position? Would you trade him or keep him, and why? Let us know in the comments section below.