Hockey Terminal
Be a GM

← All players

Photo of Rasmus Ristolainen

Rasmus Ristolainen

#55 · Defence · Philadelphia Flyers

Born Oct 27, 1994 in Turku, FIN (age 31) · 6'4", 208 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 8th overall in 2013 by BUF (round 1)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2013-14. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Peter Harrold NJD · 4 P in 33 GP Mike Komisarek CAR · 4 P in 32 GP John Erskine WSH · 4 P in 37 GP Bryce Salvador NJD · 4 P in 40 GP Carlo Colaiacovo STL · 4 P in 25 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

0102030402013-14: 4 points413-142014-15: 20 points2014-152015-16: 41 points4115-162016-17: 45 points4516-172017-18: 41 points4117-182018-19: 43 points4318-192019-20: 33 points3319-202020-21: 18 points1820-212021-22: 16 points1621-222022-23: 20 points2022-232023-24: 4 points423-242024-25: 19 points1924-252025-26: 14 points1425-262026-27: 1 points126-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2013-14 BUF 34 2 2 4 -15 6 52 66 0.12 $925K
2014-15 BUF 78 8 12 20 -32 26 121 118 0.26 $925K
2015-16 BUF 82 9 32 41 -21 33 202 139 0.50 $925K
2016-17 BUF 79 6 39 45 -9 58 186 195 0.57 $5.4M
2017-18 BUF 73 6 35 41 -25 48 182 206 0.56 $5.4M
2018-19 BUF 78 5 38 43 -41 38 182 235 0.55 $5.4M
2019-20 BUF 69 6 27 33 -2 46 128 203 0.48 $5.4M
2020-21 BUF 49 4 14 18 -18 36 73 193 0.37 $5.4M
2021-22 PHI 66 2 14 16 -9 38 97 230 0.24 $5.4M
2022-23 PHI 74 3 17 20 -4 32 86 162 0.27 $5.1M
2023-24 PHI 31 1 3 4 -6 8 46 56 0.13 $5.1M
2024-25 PHI 63 4 15 19 3 14 100 97 0.30 $5.1M
2025-26 PHI 44 1 13 14 10 16 58 48 0.32 $5.1M
2026-27 PHI 3 1 0 1 0 0 4 4 0.33 $5.1M
14 seasons Career 823 58 261 319 -169 399 1517 1952 0.39

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2025-26 PHI 10 1 4 5 1 20 18 20 0.50
1 season Playoffs 10 1 4 5 1 20 18 20 0.50

2013-14 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
34 2 2 4 -15 6 52 66 0.12 3.8 19:07

Contract

$925KCap hitends in 2016, then RFA
$231KCap dollars per point4 points in 34 games
$168KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$757KValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. He rated at or below a spare-part player, so there is no cost per goal to show. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 641 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Buffalo Sabres on Jul 12, 2013, as an entry-level contract: 3 years and $5.325M, beginning in 2013-14. It runs through 2015-16, with 2 seasons left after this one, and he is then a restricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2013-14 $925K $833K $93K $850K $925K
2014-15 $925K $833K $93K $850K $925K
2015-16 $925K $833K $93K $850K $925K

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Mar 10, 2022 Philadelphia Flyers Extension 2022-23 to 2026-27 5 $25.5M $5.1M
Oct 11, 2016 Buffalo Sabres New contract 2016-17 to 2021-22 6 $32.4M $5.4M
Jul 12, 2013 Buffalo Sabres Entry-level 2013-14 to 2015-16 3 $5.325M $925K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2013-14 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2013-14 analytics

Rating

-0.6Goals above replacement536th of 672 skaters, 180th of 234 defencemen
-0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-2.8Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 234 ranked defencemen: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence-0.8 51st percentileEven-strength defence-1.5 25th percentilePower play-0.8 15th percentilePenalty kill+0.0 51st percentilePenalties+0.3 84th percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among defencemen. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Provisional: under 40 games it is more chance than player. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-6-4-202462013-142015-162017-182019-202021-222023-242025-26Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

40.7Corsi for %388 attempts for, 565 against
-1.6CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
37.6Expected goals for %15.2 expected for, 25.2 against
-0.9xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
40.5Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
34.2Goals for %13 for, 25 against
97.3PDO5.6% shooting + 91.7% saves
61Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 567 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Christian Ehrhoff · Rasmus Ristolainen26180:2042.143.64-11
Jamie McBain · Rasmus Ristolainen16133:5036.128.85-4
Henrik Tallinder · Rasmus Ristolainen21110:2446.643.53-6
Mike Weber · Rasmus Ristolainen1479:0837.336.21-4

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

2Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.8Expected goalsfrom 68 unblocked attempts
+0.2Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.17 expected goals per 60 minutes44th
Shot quality 2.6% chance per attempt26th
Finishing +0.2 goals above expected60thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 232 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.511.52Game 20Goals 2Expected 1.8

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 13, 2014 vs NYI L 3-4 (SO) 0 1 1 -1 0 3 2 23:18
Apr 12, 2014 @ BOS L 1-4 0 0 0 -2 0 3 2 21:29
Apr 10, 2014 @ NYR L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 20:59
Apr 8, 2014 vs DET L 2-4 0 0 0 -2 0 2 1 21:41
Apr 6, 2014 @ PHI L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 24:50
Apr 4, 2014 @ DET L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 22:53
Apr 3, 2014 @ STL L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 22:27
Apr 1, 2014 vs NJD W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 20:26
Mar 29, 2014 vs TBL L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 24:45
Mar 27, 2014 @ NSH L 1-6 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 19:33
Mar 23, 2014 @ VAN L 2-4 0 0 0 -2 2 2 1 18:34
Mar 20, 2014 @ EDM W 3-1 0 0 0 1 0 4 1 21:54
Mar 18, 2014 @ CGY L 1-3 0 0 0 -2 0 1 1 21:01
Mar 16, 2014 vs MTL L 0-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 5 20:28
Mar 15, 2014 @ NYI L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 4 2 18:24
Nov 16, 2013 @ TOR L 2-4 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 18:27
Nov 15, 2013 vs TOR W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 17:12
Nov 12, 2013 vs LAK W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 16:43
Nov 8, 2013 @ ANA L 2-6 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 19:35
Nov 7, 2013 @ LAK L 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 21:08
Nov 5, 2013 @ SJS W 5-4 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 1 5 17:29
Nov 2, 2013 vs ANA L 3-6 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 20:18
Oct 31, 2013 @ NYR L 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 13:53
Oct 28, 2013 vs DAL L 3-4 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 17:47
Oct 26, 2013 @ TBL L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 3 1 14:25
Oct 25, 2013 @ FLA W 3-1 1 0 1 1 0 2 5 15:20
Oct 17, 2013 vs VAN L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 2 3 19:17
Oct 15, 2013 @ NYI W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 14:59
Oct 12, 2013 @ CHI L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 2 0 2 11:18
Oct 10, 2013 vs CBJ L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 19:20
Oct 8, 2013 vs TBL L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 16:35
Oct 5, 2013 @ PIT L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 18:06
Oct 4, 2013 vs OTT L 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 18:40
Oct 2, 2013 @ DET L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 3 1 16:44