Ristolainen will remain with Sabres next season, coach says

Rasmus Ristolainen's future with the Buffalo Sabres may be in question, but coach Ralph Krueger said he expects the defenseman to remain with the team.

"I want to coach 'Risto' next season. I would enjoy coaching Risto next season," Krueger said Friday after Ristolainen said earlier in the week he knows he could be traded if the Sabres make changes during the offseason. "So that's probably all I need to say to you. That Risto always comes with a little bit of bite is what we love about him. I'm expecting to see him as a centerpiece and a core player of our group next year."

Ristolainen scored 33 points (six goals, 27 assists) in 69 games this season, averaged a Sabres-best 22:48 of ice time per game, led them with 203 hits, and was second with 82 blocked shots (Jake McCabe, 90). The 25-year-old had a minus-2 rating, which was the best of his NHL career.

The No. 8 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, Ristolainen has two seasons remaining on the six-year, $32.4 million contract ($5.4 million average annual value) he signed Oct. 11, 2016. Buffalo has not finished higher than 23rd in the NHL standings in his seven seasons.

"What I love about Risto is he doesn't hold back on anything," Krueger said. "He tells you the truth all the time. So, I've really enjoyed working with him this year. When I began coaching him and I was the leader of that room, he was somebody who wanted to be traded, and now he has embraced our path and he was all-in on our pathway this year. He attempted to compete at a high level right through. So he's a centerpiece of what we're doing here."

Ristolainen was one of two Sabres to express frustration at the lack of success the team has had in his time in Buffalo, along with captain Jack Eichel (five seasons). In Krueger's first season as coach, Buffalo finished 13th in the Eastern Conference with a .493 points percentage (30-31-8) and will not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs; they did not make the Eastern Conference Qualifying Round as part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, which was announced Tuesday and has a 24-team format.

It's the ninth straight season the Sabres will not make the playoffs, the longest active streak in the NHL, and they have finished no higher than 23rd in the NHL, including three last-place finishes, in Ristolainen's time with the team.

"The group that [Ristolainen and Eichel have] been a part of hasn't found the potential above that line, above the playoff line, and that's what we need to find," Krueger said. "I see both those guys as winners because of how they compete, I see them both as winners because they care. I'm just watching what those two guys did the last 11 weeks. They've all purchased fitness equipment. They've all built multiple gyms that they can open to the public just to be ready in case [we were] playing again. Those aren't losers to me. Those are winners."