The Toronto Maple Leafs should not trade Rasmus Ristolainen

The defensive woes that have plagued the Toronto Maple Leafs this season have been clear and well documented. Not only did the team's defensive play struggle, but injuries to the blue line were constant. This led to the Leafs being linked to a number of names throughout the year, especially as the deadline approached.

Some names are intriguing, including Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin from General Manager Brad Treliving's former Calgary Flames team. The Toronto Maple Leafs were also linked to Nikita Zadorov earlier in the season before he traded with the Vancouver Canucks.

However, some have speculated that the Leafs could also be linked with right back Rasmus Ristolainen.

If this is the case, they should hang up the phones immediately.

Ristolainen, formerly of the Buffalo Sabres, endured many difficult seasons with the weak Sabers throughout the 2010s.

There he was used as the number one defender and fought hard. From 2014-15 through 2020-21, he ranks 13th in 5-on-5 time on ice (TOI) among defensemen, averaging 23:53 minutes a night over all. Only 59 defensemen have played 7,500 or more minutes during that time, and he ranks dead last in goals-against-percentage (xGF%) and expected goals-against-60 (CA/60). He also ranks fifth worst in goals against 60 (GA/60).

After being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in July 2021, he saw a steady decline in ice time each year. He went from 21:26 in his first season to 16:44 this season. This led to improved performance in addition to its production. In his current minutes, he is averaging the lowest points of his career since his rookie year in 2013-14, in which he played just 34 games.

As I mentioned earlier, he has improved his game since joining the Flyers. However, this should be taken with a large grain of salt given his improved play as his ice time and usage decreased. He's mostly playing bottom-even minutes this season, meaning he's mostly going against opposing teams' depth lines. Not surprisingly, this is the first season in his career where his xGF% is above 50%.

Of course, it's not a problem that he was just miscast as a top-pairing defender, and now that he's using it properly, he's performing well. Ristolainen's main concern as a trade candidate is his contract. He is currently in the second year of a 5-year contract, carrying an AAV of $5.1 million. That means if the Leafs buy him out this season, he'll be under contract for three more years after this season.

The only way Ristolainen can be acquired is if the Leafs can convince Danny Briere to retain 50%, and then convince a third team to retain an additional 50%, making his cap hit $1.275 million. Even given a decade of poor results and poor performance, his deal would be a huge risk.

All stats by hockey reference and evolving hockey. Capfriendly.com information).

I think Brad Treliving and co. it's safe to say it's back to the drawing board.