Desperate to plug the gaping hole created by Jake McCabe's shoulder injury, Tim Murray has recalled defenseman Casey Nelson from the Amerks.
Nelson has nine points (4G, 5A) in 27 games for the Amerks this season, including three points (2G, 1A) in his last five games.
In 15 career games for the Sabres during the last two seasons, Nelson has four assists and 10 penalty minutes.
Nelson is an enigma to me. He played exceptionally well for the Sabres last spring as he stacked up four assists in his first seven NHL games after signing with Buffalo as a free agent out of Minnesota State University.
The Sabres broke training camp with Nelson on the roster. The 24 year old struggled mightily with the speed of the NHL game. Nelson had zero points and was -4 in eight games in Buffalo this season. Nelson has 7 shots on goal and 3 blocked shots in 12:18 TOI. He only redeeming stat from this season is his 13 hits in 8 games played.
The Sabres have now used thirty (30) different players in their 45 games played this season.
The Sabres have now lost 224 man games to injuries this season. That number will increase substantially with the McCabe shoulder injury.
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Here are the D pairs that I'm expecting to see tonight in Montreal:
Bogosian-Ristolainen
Nelson-Franson
Falk-Fedun
The Sabres did nit have a game day skate on Saturday. Dan Bylsma will meet with media at 4:45pm to discuss his strategy and lineup. Look for Robin Lehner to face Carey Price.
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I was told Friday night that Dmitry Kulikov will begin the on ice battle testing portion of his injury recovery today.
Kulikov was placed on IR on December 29 with a recurring issue related to his back/lower body injury. He has missed the last 11 games and counting.
Kulikov, playing on an expiring contract, has suited up only 20 times in 45 games this season.
Kulikov is -10 with 22 hits, 24 blocked shots, 20 shots on goal, 14 PIMs, and one assist in 22:19 TOI.
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Want to know why Tim Murray committed six years and $32.4 million to Rasmus Ristolainen?
Because the Big Finnisher is going to win himself a Norris Trophy in the very near future.
For Murray to lock up Ristolainen for $5.4M AAV x 6 seasons is a stroke of genius. The kid would easily fetch $6.5M to $7M AAV per season on the free agency market. Were he exposed to the UFA market. Sabres fans won't have to sweat a Ristolainen departure from Buffalo for quite some time.
I love how the math nerds and fancy stats hacks bag on Ristolainen and try to minimize his overall value.
Memo to analytics community: put down your calculators, comic books, Capri Sun, and inhalers and go to a rink to watch Ristolainen play or practice live in person. Ristolainen's intrinsic value is through the roof.
On Friday night, Ristolainen once again reminded the NHL community of what a game changer he can be at both ends of teh ice.
Ristolainen logged
35:24 TOI last night vs. Detroit, topping his previous career high (30:22; January 7, 2017 vs. Winnipeg) by more than five minutes. His total included all 4:34 of the overtime period.
The last NHL player to total at least 35:24 of ice time in a regular-season game was Erik Karlsson (36:34) on December 20, 2015 at Tampa Bay.
Since the beginning of the 2009-10 season, only nine players have topped Ristolainen’s total in a regular-season game.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no Sabres player has topped Ristolainen’s total since the NHL began tracking ice time in the 1999-2000 season.
The secret to Ristolainen's on ice success is the immense effort that he invests in his off ice conditioning before, during and after each NHL season. The 22 year old is a gym rat. He lives to train and trains to live. He's told me numerous times, with a straight face this season, that he could easily play an entire NHL game without getting tired. Roistol thinks he can play 60 minutes TOI per game because he has prepared his body and mind to endure the rigors. I believe him. My only question is, who on the Buffalo D corps is Risto's equal? Who could play minute for minute at Risto's high TOI levels? Jake McCabe was playing exceptionally well as Risto's wing man until he sustained a serious shoulder injury on Friday night.
Chew on Ristolainen's numbers from the first 45 games of this season:
He averages 26:52 TOI per game (Ranked 5th among NHL D-men TOI)
He has 3 goals and 25 assists (Tied for 10th among NHL D-men points)
He has scored 1 PPG and 16 PP points thus far (Tied for 2nd among NHL D-men)
He has landed 100 shots on enemy goalies
He has 119 total hits (8th overall among NHL D-men)
He has 102 shots blocks (Tied for 7th in NHL among D-men)
Sabres fans should be counting their lucky charms that Ristolainen is healthy and is continuing to buoy an otherwise shaky back end. The Sabres are in the hunt for a wild card berth despite sustaining serious injuries to top six D producers Dmitry Kulikov, Zach Bogosian, Josh Gorges and Jake McCabe.
Ristolainen is easily Buffalo most valuable player to date. Without Ristolainen in their nightly, the Sabres would be in a world of hurt with no hopes at all of making the playoffs.
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The Sabres have gone 16-9-3 in their last 28 games against the Canadiens, including a 10-4-0 in 14 road games. The road team has won 12 of the last 17 games between these teams.
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Kyle Okposo has six points (3G, 3A) in his last six games against Montreal.
Cody Franson has four points (4A) in his last four games against the Canadiens.
Ryan O’Reilly has 11 points (4G, 7A) in 12 career games against Montreal.
Marcus Foligno has five points (4G, 1A) in his last five games against the Canadiens.
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