Ristolainen voices displeasure with the Sabres
It was yet another disappointing season for the Buffalo Sabres, who yet again missed out on the postseason despite the league announcing a 24-team playoff format. It marks the ninth straight season the team has failed to make the playoffs.
Sabres defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen, who just finished his seventh season with the team, acknowledged Thursday that it has been tough playing on a losing team for so many seasons.
“I've never been on a winning culture,” said Ristolainen. “We've been saying the bright future for seven years now … I'm not sure when is it.”
Ristolainen's frustrations certainly make sense. The now 25-year-old is a highly skilled defenceman who many thought would turn into a star, though he has yet to become one of the league's best, and playing on such a bad team is likely a key factor.
Ristolainen has been involved in constant trade rumours over the past few seasons, and acknowledged that it may be time he moves on. When asked if he wanted to be traded, he gave an interesting response.
“That's a good question … I want to win, if it's in Buffalo or if it's somewhere else … if changes do happen, I know I'm probably going to be one of the guys who would probably get traded.”
Trading Ristolainen may be the only option the Sabres have at this point, as they desperately need to turn things around and he is a player who would command a lot on the trade market. The Finnish defenceman had six goals and 33 points in 69 games for Buffalo this season.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 14, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Phillip Danault | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Josh Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||