Quoting: wojme
Not retaining
Quoting: AudioCats
Buffalo declines.
It's not a bad offer, but Johnson has too much term, we don't need Rutta because we already have too many RHD, and Yan hasn't exactly lit it up in Syracuse. With Dahlin and Reinhart needing raises we can't afford to be tied up with Johnson's contract.
Here is the skinny, Tampa only has 21 yo Erik Cernak as a reliable RHD. But he only has one year to judge and that may be his best ever (see Sergachev).
They are so desperate for RHD that they sign Schenn (?).
I think Gourde and Johnson are great players, but Betterall just picked up 6'3" Vesey and 6'1" Johansson, I sort of doubt either 26 yo 5'9" Yanni or 28 yo 5'8" Tyler are on his radar.
IMO if Betterall is trading Ristolainen, it will be for a right handed forward at least the size of Johansson not over 26 years old who has a resume similar to Vesey or Johansson (most likely a little better).
I do not see any one on the Tampa roster who fits that bill.
So maybe Ristolainen is not the one on the block, maybe it is Bogosian. While he is a far cry from a top pairing defenseman he is a world better than Schenn.
Bogosian can add the toughness that Tampa lacks (look at their roster and see how many players are right handed or over 6' tall). I would never suggest that BriseBois would give up Gourde or Johnson, but Zach may be the right fit for a pick especially if 50% of his salary was retained.
As always, I love listening to other points of view.