He doesn’t know anything about Risto other than some stats he looked up.
- Iggysbff

Only watched 3 Buffalo games this year.

Not looking at some stats and comparing them using the relative ratios would be foolish.

Don't go around thinking you know more about him either.

Only watched 3 Buffalo games this year.

Not looking at some stats and comparing them using the relative ratios would be foolish.

Don't go around thinking you know more about him either.
- EdmHockeyMan

Iggy knows more about anything and everything than you do. The sooner you accept that fact the better.

Iggy knows more about anything and everything than you do. The sooner you accept that fact the better.
- leonkennedy

Truth

A monkey could have done better than Chiarelli over the past three years.

The whole works need to go. Nicholson, Chia, Mact, Todd and and all the coaches. Clean them all out. All completely useless overpaid morons.
- Iggysbff

This I can agree with and they should drag Kevin Lowe with them.

Iggy knows more about anything and everything than you do. The sooner you accept that fact the better.
- leonkennedy

I underrate Ristolainen about as much as you over rate him. Let me ask you this:

How much better this season was Ristolainen than Nurse?
Ignore the past, just this season.
- Larsson_fan

Ristolainen is a decent player but much better suited for a second pairing offensive starts. The fact he is getting 27 plus minutes a night is mind boggling. And people wonder why Buffalo has been so bad....

Ristolainen is a decent player but much better suited for a second pairing offensive starts. The fact he is getting 27 plus minutes a night is mind boggling. And people wonder why Buffalo has been so bad....
- freelancer

Like the Oilers giving Jultz 27 minutes a night

If the oilers have to be awful and out of the playoffs, I can at least enjoy watching the leafs get bent over

- Reveen.

Iggy knows more about anything and everything than you do. The sooner you accept that fact the better.
- leonkennedy

True.

Ristolainen is a decent player but much better suited for a second pairing offensive starts. The fact he is getting 27 plus minutes a night is mind boggling. And people wonder why Buffalo has been so bad....
- freelancer

I wouldn't say much better suited for second pairing offensive zone starts. He has shown that he can produce when put in a first pairing role (top tier minutes against top opp). The problem is, as you highlighted, Buffalo relies too much on him, and he would benefit from a few minutes being shaved off his aTOI (especially with respect to his defensive game), but still given top pairing responsibilities.

Lower his aTOI to 24 minutes max (with the same "top pairing" duties and roles) against the same quality of opposition and I'd bet that you'll see a drop in the number of defensive gaffs on his own end and a better two way game since he won't fatigued to death every single game. I'm just surprised as to how he has still survived and produced at a good level after being heavily leaned on by the staff.

More so than anything else, if he can gain some consistency in his own zone (his biggest weakness atm, IMO) whether by lowering his aTOI or development, of which I think is just a matter of time, he'll be that much better.

This I can agree with and they should drag Kevin Lowe with them.
- Reveen.

Sure but I don’t care about Lowe. He has nothing to do with hockey ops anymore.

I'd sooner just counter with Klefbom for Risto to see if maybe Buffalo's management believe that the root of his lack of possession success is intrinsically a flaw in his game or something that will be rectified by having a better support system. If they believe in possession metrics, they might not be quite as high on Risto as we might assume from outside the organization.

Pretty big "might" there and I doubt they view him that way, but it'd be worth testing the waters on.
- MaximumBone

Also, since we are talking about this season and his performance....

He is positive (above the team average) with regards to possession metrics this year btw.

+1.1 CF % rel.
+1.5 Fenwick % rel.

Both massive improvements from last year (Both values in the -5 range).
So I would recheck on that.
One thing I would mention is that his iGF/iGA ratio is the worst one yet.
If there is anything to state about this season its that he has been defensively inconsistent. He might be responsible for 3 goals against in one game, the next, he is a defensive wall. This could be with issue to what Freelancer said (too much ice-time and too much reliance on him) or just development in general. Regardless, he still has time to figure it out. Still a young lad at the age of 23.

Also the amount of Leafs fans ready to blow their team up is mind boggling

If the oilers have to awful and out of the playoffs, I can at least enjoy watching the leafs get bent over
- HB77

So much whine flowing in their thread! It’s glorious!

Sure but I don’t care about Lowe. He has nothing to do with hockey ops anymore.
- Iggysbff

Right.........

Also the amount of Leafs fans ready to blow their team up is mind boggling
- freelancer

They’re going off on Babkunt a lot to.

They’re going off on Babkunt a lot to.
- Iggysbff

Makes me happy he frustrates everyone.

I just found out about House Arrest.


The guy loved to laugh and sure lived hard...


Figured I should make a post in respect.

I just found out about House Arrest.


The guy loved to laugh and sure lived hard...


Figured I should make a post in respect.
- Byfuglien Ate Me

I just found out about House Arrest.


The guy loved to laugh and sure lived hard...


Figured I should make a post in respect.
- Byfuglien Ate Me

THAnks Bubba.

So we re-signed Rattie.

1 yr 800 k.

So we re-signed Rattie.

1 yr 800 k.
- Iggysbff

Huh. Guess he did earn it.

So we re-signed Rattie.

1 yr 800 k.
- Iggysbff

Cool. He was ok. Don’t expect him to maintain that production or even be a staple on McD’s wing but the price is fair.

Cool. He was ok. Don’t expect him to maintain that production or even be a staple on McD’s wing but the price is fair.
- Larsson_fan

Can’t go wrong with it.