How good is Rasmus Ristolainen?

[PatrickMcC]

I was arguing with a friend on how good he is now and what kind of potential he has... I just wanna hear the opinion of others!

Like I think he's a good top 4 d right now and he will be a #1 defenceman in the future.

Any thoughts?

Click to read more...

 

[Al Lagoon]

I was arguing with a friend on how good he is now and what kind of potential he has... I just wanna hear the opinion of others!

Like I think he's a good top 4 d right now and he will be a #1 defenceman in the future.

Any thoughts?

He's damn good. I think you are spot-on.

 

[TheyTuukkaMyCup]

he ight

 

[TheOllieC]

He's a decent second pairing guy right now and I suppose he could become a #1 down the line with his good physical tools and continued development, but he's quite overrated on here for what he is at the moment. His underlying numbers are awful and he constantly gets destroyed in game by game possession matchups, kinda like Jack Johnson in a way.

 

[Not Sure]

I was arguing with a friend on how good he is now and what kind of potential he has... I just wanna hear the opinion of others!

Like I think he's a good top 4 d right now and he will be a #1 defenceman in the future.

Any thoughts?

He's the Sabres #1 D right now, will be a league 1 D soon, and based on his growth the past 2 years if he continues developing he'll be a top 20 in the NHL by the time he's 24-25. Much of the love is based on potential and having the tools to be great, he just needs to continue whatever he's doing.

 

[Mrb1p]

He okay.

 

[PatrickMcC]

alright I'm getting mixed responses so far

 

[Bounces R Way]

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I would not form a team without him. Top elite.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

As good as a small pony

but he's no Connor McDavid

 

[Royal Thunder]

He is right there with Ekblad as the best U-22 defenseman in the world

 

[BB88]

You can pretty much play him in every situation,
on your #1pk and pp unit, play him +25mins per night, likes to be physical and go after top guys and has 39points on a team that's bottom5 in scoring, I'd say he's pretty good, more than just a top4 and going to get better.

He's playing toughest minutes with a 3rd pairing vet on a rebuilding team, like I've said before if his possession numbers are the same next year let's get worried.
This has been a huge year for his development.

 

[pigpen65]

He's good enough to where watching him you can't identify any one area where his game needs improvement. He's a good skater, good puck handler, has a good accurate shot, has good vision, makes smart passes, and has good physicality. He's good on the power play and he's good on the PK. He can play in any situation and he can do it while eating minutes. I don't know what your definition of a #1 Dman is, but by my definition he's a #1 Dman. He's 21, so he's still very inexperienced, but that's a good thing in it's own way. It just means he'll keep getting better the more he plays.

 

[MackAttack26]

He's a good number 2 already, who's done a respectable job playing 25 minutes a night in Buffalo with Josh Gorges....as a 21 year old.

He will be an actual number 1 very soon, and one day I think he will be a top-5/10 D in the league.

No homer.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

He's p bad.



To be fair, Nordstrom is considered a top prospect on the Hurricanes.

 

[Aceboogie]

He is right there with Ekblad as the best U-22 defenseman in the world

Yeah no hes not close

Ok #4 right now. #2 upside


Numbers arent much better for his "break out" year of 2015-16. Of his top linemates. 8/10 top linemates do better without him than with him. Below is his raw #s. The more positive numbers and the higher they are, the worse. These represent teammates improvement in possession #s without him. Some shockingly bad numbers.

3.4
6.1
3.8
5.8
2
4.8
2.6
4.2
-0.2
-2.7
1.6
8.1
3.6
5.4
5.7
-9.3
2.3
5.2
27.1
14.4
7.8
16.5
15.6
-0.9
24.7
25.6
5.5

 

[Satastic]

He k

 

[SenzZen]

He's p bad.



To be fair, Nordstrom is considered a top prospect on the Hurricanes.

What is this supposed to prove? Nordstrom makes a phenomenal play there. If the pass isn't behind Nordstrom- and I doubt it was intentionally placed there- Ristolainen breaks it up.

Mind you, I am one of the people overrating him at this point. I think he has Norris potential.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Good 2nd pairing guy with number 1 upside.

Could very well become a top 15 d man within three years.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

He has great tools but still needs to learn what do do in his own zone.

 

[Royal Thunder]

Yeah no hes not close

Ok #4 right now. #2 upside


Numbers arent much better for his "break out" year of 2015-16. Of his top linemates. 8/10 top linemates do better without him than with him. Below is his raw #s. The more positive numbers and the higher they are, the worse. These represent teammates improvement in possession #s without him. Some shockingly bad numbers.

3.4
6.1
3.8
5.8
2
4.8
2.6
4.2
-0.2
-2.7
1.6
8.1
3.6
5.4
5.7
-9.3
2.3
5.2
27.1
14.4
7.8
16.5
15.6
-0.9
24.7
25.6
5.5

Ristolainen spent the first two seasons of his career on one of the worst teams in modern history, and plays with a bottom pairing caliber partner in Gorges.

 

[GellMann]

He's playing tough minutes with Josh Gorges, and is burnt out, so recently he's looked worse than when he started the year. Huge emphasis this offseason on getting a competent partner. He's gonna be spectacular.

 

[portamoral]

not that good

 

[McFlyingV]

#3 right now with the potential to become a #1 or a #2 at worst. Gets overhyped by some and under appreciated by others. Like all young D he still shows a lot of inconsistency, but that shouldn't be surprising for a guy his age.

 

[JFG]

He has great potential but similairly to Ekblad I think he is overrated for the player he is today.