Quote:
Originally Posted by TheScorpion
At least Chris Tanev was good for a while before the Flames signed him (and had a very good first year).
Ristolainen has never helped the Sabres in his own end. He made Buffalo substantially worse in basically every quantifiable defensive way. He has traits that GMs covet — size, shot, physicality — but he fails by the numbers and the eye test. His tenure in Buffalo was nothing but a disaster.
Numbers aside, I have been impressed watching Ristolainen maybe once ever. He is a brutally uncoordinated defenseman who constantly makes mistakes and is vastly overpaid.
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Yes, his time in Buffalo has yielded poor results, but the whole team is a tire fire. Those tools alone make him better than Gostisbehere, and if harnessed in the right environment, where he doesn't have to be 'the guy' there is a lot to work with.
Gostisbehere is a flat out awful defenseman who can put up some points if you are willing to give him the icetime he doesn't deserve.