Shutdown Pair

Tag: Rasmus Ristolainen

  • Random Sabres Stats

    Thinking about Leafs/Sabres tonight, I decided to check on some statistics at random.  Here are the results.  This first section is for 5v5:

    • Nicolas Deslauriers is the worst CF% player in the NHL who has played more than 20 games.  Shawn Thornton is the only player worse than him who is at all close in time on ice.
    • Ryan O’Reilly is the best Sabre for CF% at 53.68%, which is 88th for players who have played more than 20 games.  That may not sound great, but that’s right were Evgeni Malkin is.  Main difference is Malkin has a few teammates (some guy named Crosby for one) a bit higher up the list.
    • Johan Larsson and Brian Gionta start in the D zone the most (both over 40%), while Jack Eichel leads the way for Buffalo with starts in the offensive zone, followed by Matt Moulson and Sam Reinhart.
    • 52 goalies have played at least 10 games so far, with both Anders Nilsson and Robin Lehner in the top 12 in save percentage.  However, the top 5 all have 2.00 GAA or lower, while both Sabres goalies are closer to 2.50.

    Now 5v4:

    • Kyle Okposo, Rasmus Ristolainen, Ryan O’Reilly, Matt Moulson, and Sam Reinhart are your Sabres with double digit power play points.
    • Moulson (7) and Okposo (6) lead Buffalo in PP goals, though Eichel is at 5 in half of Okposo’s power play time.
    • Ryan O’Reilly wins 63% of his power play faceoffs.  He’s won more power play faceoffs alone than the rest of the team combined (78 for ROR, 77 for everyone else).  It’s good to have a role.

    And 4v5:

    • Giving up the body – Josh Gorges has blocked 21 shots on the penalty kill, 5 more than the next Sabre.
    • Buffalo has a lone short-handed goal.  Two teams have none, and all the rest have more.  The Flames have 7.
    • This might have something to do with that last one – the Sabres have been short-handed 129 times, the Flames?  170.

    I’m not a stat-head, but these are things that jumped out at me as I clicked around at NHL.com and Puckalytics.  What else would you like to see?

  • Buffalo Sabres Roster Set For Opening Night

    Buffalo Sabres Roster Set For Opening Night

    The Sabres open their schedule tomorrow night, hosting Montreal, and announced their roster just before the deadline yesterday.  Notable keeps are Derek Grant, Hudson Fasching and Casey Nelson, who have all had good camps.  Though some of that may be the fact that both O’Reilly and Okposo are still hurting and questionable for tomorrow.

    The other huge news of the day was Rasmus Ristolainen finally signing a new 6 year deal, with a $5.4 million cap hit.  A very solid deal for a player who still has room to grow.  I’d like to see him take a step defensively this year, while still managing 10+ goals/45+ points.

    I’ve seen a bunch of talk about the Sabres being picked to finish last or nearly so in a few publications.  I’m with the rest of you that it seems unlikely, but I can’t fault them too much.  Most of our “FUCK YEAH PLAYOFFS” feelings come from the idea of all the young kids getting better and progressing at a steady rate.  I’d like that to be true, but it just doesn’t happen.  No one was more positive about Tyler Myers than me, starting out with 2 solid years, thinking he was going to keep progressing into superstar status.  It hasn’t happened – he’s more Bouwmeester than Chara.  I’m hyped, but I’m okay with people outside of Buffalo not buying in yet.  Still, I kind of want to re-do Prediction Watch for this season so I can revisit it after the season.

    (10/13 Update) Well THAT escalated quickly.  I wrote this yesterday before Eichel’s high ankle sprain came to light.  I don’t think it greatly affects the season, barring some weirdly lingering issue, but you have to laugh at the luck here.  “Hey, at least we’ve got some great young players to watch!”  “LOL NO sorry you don’t.”

  • Rasmus Ristolainen GWG

    RistolainenOTWinnerFinlandWJCvia @CJzero.  The future is bright, maybe.

  • Sorry, Ville

    Seriously, can this guy catch a break?  Er, bad choice of words.  The view from the press box probably isn’t helping him any, as his team struggles to find an identity (and their man in the defensive zone) managing only 1 point in the standings in four games.  Goaltending has been a bright spot, though they worked Miller so hard his groin kept him out of a game.  Jhonas Enroth ably filled in, but eventually, your team might have to chip in a goal or three.

    I wish I could say things are going to get better soon, but really, a team filled with teenagers, head cases and only one real scoring threat is not one that shakes off a slump easily.  All the line-juggling and benchings in the world won’t help.  Time, practice and teaching will.  That can’t happen if a player is in a suit.  Neither can it happen if he’s toiling on the fourth line alongside John Scott or Cody McCormick.  Mistakes suck, and they are hard to watch.  I get that.  But they need to be made if they are to be learned from.  Or, pessimistically, we need to see if a player CAN learn from them.  So give me Grigorenko and Larsson, Girgensons and Ristolainen.  Foligno, Pysyk, Hodgson – let’s see what we have.  If we’re going to suffer, let’s suffer with a purpose.

    Today’s lines at practice:

    • Vanek – Hodgson – Ott
    • Foligno – Ennis – Stafford
    • Girgensons – Larsson – Flynn
    • McCormick – Porter – Kaleta

    On D:

    • Ehrhoff – Pysyk
    • Weber – Myers
    • McBain – Ristolainen

    This is a problem.  Yeah, Grigorenko hasn’t been great.  But he’s not some 5 year veteran who needs to be shaken up by having to sit a few games.  He’s a KID whose best chance is to work on his game NOW.