Quoting: KUUUCH
Yea winning or losing the cup is gonna be a huge factor for future team plans. I'm sure Risto isn't completely useless, he's just developed his pro game on one of the worse NHL teams to start his career. Better/new players & coaches can def change a player for the better or the worse. I just don't think he deserves the trade value that Buffalo is presumed to ask for him.
Speaking from a Tampa (or other good team) perspective...
my guess is that in Ristolainen they see a physical defenseman who can skate the puck up ice, is pretty good on the PP, and scores 40+ points every year on one of the worst scoring teams
And then the thought with his defensive flaws...
would probably be that if u could get Ristolainen on a good team, then he’s going to be exposed so much less than on Buffalo- and that would really limit a lot of the errors he makes in his own end
And boost his offensive stats even- since on a good team, he’d be playing in the offensive zone A LOT more than the defensive end
I think that’s how Buffalo sees it also
So we’d consider trading him,
but only if someone overpays
Bc we see how good he can be, & just need to get rid of our dead weight so we can build up the team around him (and our other young talent)