[Signing] Sabres re-sign Ristolainen (6 yrs, $5.4m AAV)

[automaton 3]

No doubt that Ekblad is a player, I think dumping top-tier elite money on him after 2 seasons is enormously risky. Lots of folks thought that Phaneuf would be an elite player after his first few years too.

I personally think you're underselling Ristolainen.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Ristolainen is way ahead of Hamilton when we signed him. Ristolainen is a future franchise d-man and Hamilton is not IMO. You trade Hamilton for Ristolainen in a heartbeat.

[Oling_Roachinen]

When Phaneuf signed his contract the cap hit was 56M, he took up 11% of the cap. When Ekblad's contract starts the cap will likely be 75M+ and he will take up 10% of the cap.

Phaneuf entered the league as a 20 year old. Ekblad signed his contract as a 20 year old. For every Phaneuf or maybe even Myers, a defender that regresses after his first two years, there's literally 100 defenders who improve as they enter their low 20s.

For a defender drafted and playing as an 18 and 19 year old, there's really no modern day comparables to Ekblad except maybe Doughty. Doughty's contract was 7M when the cap was 64.3M. 11% of the cap. He's been nominated for a Norris three times, winning it once.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Ristolainen is way ahead of Hamilton when we signed him. Ristolainen is a future franchise d-man and Hamilton is not IMO. You trade Hamilton for Ristolainen in a heartbeat.

The Bruin fans thought Hamilton was their future franchise d-man...

I think this a bit of the shiny new toy syndrome. If Ristolainen stagnates even a little to start the season, he will be "back on Hamilton's level." Especially if Hamilton plays anywhere close to how he did in the last half of the season.

[Sylvanfan]

This is a pretty good deal. I blame the NDP for the Flames having to pay extra for Hamilton.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Ristolainen is way ahead of Hamilton when we signed him. Ristolainen is a future franchise d-man and Hamilton is not IMO. You trade Hamilton for Ristolainen in a heartbeat.

Points have been pretty much identical and advanced stats say that Hamilton is better at both shot generation and shot suppression.

Ristolainen also has bad With or Without You stats and teammates actually tend to perform better without him.

Ristolainen is getting a ton of hype but I don't see him as a step above Hamilton at all.