Bob McKenzie stopped by TSN 1050 on Tuesday afternoon to share his thoughts on the snail's pace that is the contract negotiations of Buffalo Sabres D-man extraordinaire Rasmus Ristolainen and his peer Anaheim's Hampus Lindholm.
Ristolainen and Lindholm are unsigned restricted free agents. Both players have earned big pay raises via their standout play for their respective teams the past three seasons. Neither is in a hurry to sign a deal just for the sake of saying so.
Make no mistake about it. Ristolainen and Lindholm are going to get paid. No. Neither will be signing a two-year bridge contract. I've pegged Ristolainen's value at between $6 to $6.5 million annual average value for six to seven seasons. Lindholm will sign a similar contract.
During the exhibition game phase of World Cup Of Hockey tournament, Ristolainen told reporters that he wasn't concerned about his lack of a contract. He said it was a formality and that he was confident that his agent and Sabres GM Tim Murray would get the deal done.
So, what's the hold up?
“Right now, the reason Rasmus Ristolainen in Buffalo and Hampus Lindholm in Anaheim – and we’ll see what happens with Trouba on the contract front, not the trade front – the reason why those guys right now aren’t signed is because Buffalo and Anaheim are saying:
"Morgan Rielly (Toronto) is making $5 million for the next six years. Seth Jones (Columbus) is making $5.4 million for the next six years. So we’re not giving you more than those guys."
How does this pertain to Ristolainen, Lindholm and Trouba?
“Those other guys are saying, "Okay, we know that the Aaron Ekblad deal at eight years time $7.5 million in Florida might be a bit of an outlier compared to all of the other young defensemen coming out of entry level (contracts). But $7.5 million to him, it’s a comparable. So if we’re not at $7.5 million, we should be at $6 million to $6.5 million".
“So that’s where the battle lines are drawn for Rasmus Ristolainen and Hampus Lindholm, vis-a-vis the comparables of Rielly, Jones at one end, (and) maybe Dougie Hamilton at $5.75 million or Aaron Ekblad at the high end ($7.5 million).”
McKenzie confirms what I have been saying all summer long which is Ristolainen's next contract will slot between Ekblad and Rielly. Ditto Lindholm.
Risto's comparables are as follows:
Dougie Hamilton's $5.75M AAV.
Tyson Barrie's $5.5M AAV.
Seth Jones and his $5.4M AAV.
Morgan Reilly and Danny DeKeyser at $5M AAV.
The way I see it, Ristolainen has the leverage. He's 21 years old, playes upwards of 25 minutes TOI per game, and scored 41 points last season. The Savres don't have another doninating D-man quite like Ristolainen who thrives 5v5, PP and PK. He's big, fast, phsyical and offensive. Tim Murray will have to pay the man.
Join the Discussion:
»