Edmonton Oilers Rumors: Can the Buffalo Sabres Make A Deal?

Potential Roadblocks

Another common complaint is that Ristolainen is a mediocre skater and can’t move the puck hence his terrible giveaway/takeaway ratio but I’d beg to differ. Playing on the Buffalo Sabres and not having the best linemates or team for that matter probably didn’t help.

Now if his puck management is a real concern, on the Oilers, he could be paired with Andrej Sekera who is an astute puck mover. Darnell Nurse can also move the puck.

But let’s not pretend his skating is a problem. He’s not Bobby Orr, but he’s also not Mark Fayne. Skating isn’t the issue.

That being said, Jack Eichel‘s CF% with Ristolainen was 63.35 and 49.13 without him in 630 minutes TOI. That’s just one example of his impact on high-end hockey players. Ryan O’Reilly and Sam Reinhart experienced similar results last season.

Oscar Klefbom’s 5×5 GF% last year was 43.56, and Ristolainen’s was 42.0. I want to argue that that has more to do with Buffalo, but when I look back, Ristolainen puts up similar numbers in the past. His career high was 45% two seasons ago. Whereas Klefbom’s career high was 52.85 the year the Oilers made the playoffs but that year Adam Larsson’s was 56.35, and Kris Russell’s 5×5 GF% was 54.67… (link)

We can use all sorts of numbers and statistics to dress things up to our liking but when it all comes down to it, Rasmus Ristolainen has put the points on the board, and Oscar Klefbom hasn’t.