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During the pre-season unsigned RFA Rasmus Ristolainen had sought permission to skate with the Buffalo Sabres. Though he was still unsigned he wanted to be with the team and prepare for the season in what once looked like a gesture in good faith as contract negotiations continued.

Now it looks as though good faith is dragging out a bit longer than he had hoped.

Rasmus Ristolainen hasn't trained with Sabres since Thursday. Is not coming back until new contract is done. Might take a while. — Sami Hoffrén (@shoffren) October 11, 2016

In professional sports money talks.

Since the creation of the free agent era player contracts have continued to increase. Teams make money off of sponsorship and broadcast rights and what was once a game is now a full blown business.

Young players can easily see what others similar to him are making just by Googling it and with their agent come up with their numbers. Then the team looks at their own books and decides what they are willing to spend. Often the two sides do not agree upon the numbers and once again this is showing to be an issue.

Finnish media outlet Ilta-Sanomat is reporting Ristolainen is seeking over $6M per season, while the Sabres are offering "closer to $5M." — Dave Davis (@DaveDavisHockey) October 11, 2016

Now Ristolainen is not practicing with the team, he may not be ready for the season opener later this week even if he had a contract in place. It looks like both sides are playing chicken with one another in an effort to see who bends first; and now the Sabres will be without a young, top defenseman.

The start of the NHL season is upon us now and not coming to an agreement sooner rather than later will only end up hurting both sides and their relationship with one another moving forward.