The Toronto Maple Leafs need a right-handed defenseman and the Buffalo Sabres may have one available.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been linked to Rasmus Ristolainen for a few months now. Although it should be said in more of a fantasy way than any real way. Ristolainen does not appear in any way to fit the profile of a player the Leafs management would be interested in.
Still, that hasn’t stopped people from talking about it. In Luke Fox’s Sportsnet article back in June, rumors were already flying about Ristolainen leaving Buffalo.
I find it a little upsetting that a player with term is already expecting to get traded. Even if you think it may be true, wouldn’t you rather just say “I love Buffalo and want to win with this franchise?”
Either way, it feels like Ristolainen is out the door sooner than later and Toronto could be the right fit.
Ristolainen for Prospects and Picks
The Trade:
- Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Rasmus Ristolainen ($5.4M)
- Buffalo Sabres acquire: Calle Rosen ($750K), Pierre Engvall ($1.25M), Nic Petan ($775K) and 3rd round pick
The only way this trade works is if the Leafs give up non-roster players in return for Ristolainen.
The Sabres have a ton of UFA/RFA’s this summer and need roster spots to fill with term.
Rosen is at best a bottom-six defenseman in the NHL but has potential to be an everyday player. Engvall has shown promise as a third-line player, while Petan can be also be an everyday NHL player if given an opportunity.
I know it sounds like a lot of players to give up for one defenseman, but all three of those players don’t change the DNA of the Leafs current roster.
The Sabres have a ton of cap-space and I’m sure they would love to lure a few big-name players to Buffalo. By trading Ristolainen, it clears even more space to offer Alex Pietrangelo a monster deal.
It also gives them more space to find a goaltender in free agency or maybe even Taylor Hall if they wanted to pair him with Jack Eichel.
If you look at Ristolainen’s Corsi percentage, it’s really not that good. He’s well below 50 percent from a career average and he has a large sample size of almost 500 games played.
I have a terrible feeling that Ristolainen would turn into the whipping-boy like Jake Gardiner or Cody Ceci (especially at his cap-hit) but the Leafs do need a right-handed defenseman.
We could have got crazy with a hypothetical trade featuring Eichel or Rasmus Dahlin but those players aren’t going anywhere.
Would you make this trade for Ristolainen or prefer to look somewhere else?
On the next edition of this column, we’ll look at the Detroit Red Wings, so maybe they have something better to offer. Until then, Go Leafs Go.