Ristolainen vs Letang in a keeper?

[BigMan]

Who would you guys rather have in 14 team keeper for the next 3 years? It's a keep 4.
Cats - G, A, PPP, SOG, PIMS, BLK, HITS, FOW

[PenguinHunter]

In a Limited Keeper (Keep 4) I would keep Letang and hope he plays a full season without injury.

[Canucks_fan18]

Neither if its a keep 4 but if I had to choose even with the injuries it's Letang. He is a top 3 defence in the league when healthy or even relatively healthy. If he plays 65+ games he's top 5 in the league for D.

[RizzeeDizzee]

One often overlooked factor about Letang is he's quite good in multi-cats. Letang has lots of warts, but warts and all he's still a huge fantasy asset, and he's the pick here.

[MZac]

Risto's a beast with those categories. I suppose it depends how they are weighted and whether it's a roto or h2h matchup style. Hard to pass up Letangs near ppg when hes healthy.

Who are your other players as I'm inclined to agree with CF as neither are ideal in a keep 4... Perhaps a trade upgrade is in order.

[Moses]

If the choice is one of those two I take Ristolainen. Letang starts a next year at 30. Letang is forever hurt. Letang will be easier to snag in your draft next year than he has in years past.

[Overated Veteran]

Keep Risto for sure. If I could trade Letang for Ristolainen I'd be happy with it. Letang is overated in your kind of league

[StuntMan12]

I'd rather keep Ristolainen. Is much younger and has a tremendous future ahead of him. It also helps that he will be the pp quarterback on a team that has Jack Eichel who may challenge for the Art Ross next year who knows.

prediction:

82 Games
12 Goals
41 Assists
53 Points

All while Letang plays 60 some games a year and gives owners fits and who knows how long his body will hold up and be able to produce at an elite level which he is capable of. Ristolainen AINEC

[RizzeeDizzee]

I'd rather keep Ristolainen. Is much younger and has a tremendous future ahead of him. It also helps that he will be the pp quarterback on a team that has Jack Eichel who may challenge for the Art Ross next year who knows.

prediction:

82 Games
12 Goals
41 Assists
53 Points

All while Letang plays 60 some games a year and gives owners fits and who knows how long his body will hold up and be able to produce at an elite level which he is capable of. Ristolainen AINEC

Your argument are reasonable, but this isn't an AINEC case. Risto is averaging 2.5 Hits, 2.4 SOG and 2.1 Blocks per game this season - HUGE given his points. But he's less than a 0.5 PIM player. Looking at Letang, he's a hair under 2 Hits per game and 2 blocks per game, but at 3 SOG per game and has been at or above 1 PIM per game in two of his most recent three seasons. In other words, he's not all offense. And he's a true 60 point d-man, albeit only if he doesn't get hurt.

Look - if you check my posts you'll see I'm a HUGE Risto supporter and I think he's on the fast track to stardom. But Letang already is a star and the right choice is to grit and bear keeping him. After all, even when Letang doesn't play you can swap in someone and get their production. If Letang plays 60 games, he gets you 45 points. In those other 22, you can probably cobble together another 10, and that gets you 55, which Risto might but might not reach in the next couple of seasons. And of course if Letang somehow plays 75 games, you hit the jackpot.