Ristolainen has increased his point total (45 last year) and ice time (26:28) for three straight seasons, establishing himself as one of the league’s best young defensemen. He simply does it all for the Sabres: playing against the opposition’s top forwards, quarterbacking the powerplay, and killing penalties. The sky’s the limit for Ristolainen, who’s arrow should continue pointing up on a team that looks vastly improved on paper, and he remains Buffalo’s undisputed No. 1 defenseman. It would not be a surprise to see Ristolainen crack double-digit goals while registering his third consecutive 40-point season. Ristolainen is the present and future of the Sabres’ blue line, and it’s not unreasonable to expect him to be a top-10 scorer among defensemen. He also improved his rating to minus-9 last year (from minus-21 the year before and minus-32 the year before that); it'll be huge for his fantasy value if Ristolainen can get himself to the positive side of the ledger in 2017-18.