Confirmed with Link: Casey Mittelstadt traded to COL for D Bo Byram. Straight up.

[joshjull]

Did we just trade McDavid? WTF

I'd rather have Cozens and Tage then Mitts. That being said I've always been a big Mitts guy.

I’d rather have all three of them, than hoping one of the young kids turns into something.

 

[Zach716]

All the LD are ours ..

 

[My Cozen Dylan]

I’d rather have all three of them, than hoping one of the young kids turns into something.

3 centers making $7 million each? Or did you want to trade Peterka instead? Or Quinn?

 

[Irie]

Are Thompson and cozens actual centers on a cup contender? Or are they more wingers? (Besides ostland all the prospects likely end up on the wing as well)

Mittlestat is 2nd line/middle center on a cup contender

Thompson isn't a winger in any scenario, he just doesn't have the space to create plays from the wing, but your point about him not being a center on a cup contender is legitimate.

He will probably never be what we all want him to be, which is a offensive juggernaut that is at least somewhat competent in his own zone. He can be the offensive juggernaut when playing with players that create space for him though.

I think it really is going to be on the coaching staff to put Tage in a position where he has a winger who covers his defensive-center shortcomings. If you find a player like that who has chemistry with him, it could work out quite well - just gotta find a newer version of Jere Lehtinen...

 

[dasaybz]

I’d rather have all three of them, than hoping one of the young kids turns into something.

But that hasn't really worked out and Mitts hasn't gotten paid yet.

 

[dickiedunnwrotethis]

I agree with you. Mitts is a good player, a very good player. He's also going to be a very expensive player for whoever ends up signing his next deal, and there has been a whole lot of handwringing going on about us overspending on his deal and not being able to shore up the D as a result.

It's just not possible to have it both ways, no matter how much we try to. The D is shored up. We have a metric ton of forward prospects and not enough room for them all. The more I think about it, the more I know we did the right thing here, especially if/when Kevyn isn't done yet.

Getting a redundant LD with a serious concussion history is a strange way of saying the D is shored up.

 

[joshjull]

But that hasn't really worked out and Mitts hasn't gotten paid yet.

It hasn’t worked for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons being the two centers we kept/gave enormous extension to have been ass.

 

[Tatanka]

3 centers making $7 million each? Or did you want to trade Peterka instead? Or Quinn?

Thompson

 

[OkimLom]

You guys are acting like Mittlestadt won 2 cups here and the team was a perennial contender. They already committed to Cozens and TT. Is Casey a good player? Of course. But with Krebs, Kulich, Savoie, Ostlund, Rosen... they have the pipeline to replace him. Who was coming on D for them? Nobody. Thats why this trade makes sense.

They aren't using the pipeline to replace Casey usage and role. They will be using TT or Cozens to do that. Neither player has shown to have the capabilities to do so, especially at as a consistent level as Casey played it for.

The Sabres are 1-2 years away from Krebs taking a full-time role that would be considered a scoring role. He's barely fit to run a 4th line role as center.

Kulich, Savoie, Ostlund, Rosen are 2-4 years from taking any sort of center role on the Sabres. They sure as heck not replacing Mittelstadt and what Donny used him as.

You don't trade "from a position of strength" until you KNOW you have the pieces that can fill that back up immediately. Sabres got worse at the center position today, and they acquired a player that is coming from a more offensively capable organization and system, that is barely outproducing Joki.

 

[old kummelweck]

It's going to be interesting to see if that is the case or not...

It may also not happen now.

 

[TheBarnIsElectric]

I disagree with the opinion that we don't need more D who are good with the puck. We don't have plenty of that. We have Dahlin. Power is decent with the puck and should improve, but everyone else is questionable.

I don't have the stat in front of me, but our D was very low on the league list for point production.

Byram doesn't solve all our D problems, but he definitely improves our D. He's young, has upside, and is under team control for at least a couple years.

Sorry to see Mitts go, but we needed to improve the D and this does that, IMO.

 

[elchud]

We've got 4 players making 7million plus. What's the big forward add? Unless we move Thompson or Cozens (and we wont).

Adams is committed to the big 4.

 

[Dingo44]

OK - now that I have had a bit to digest and think about it...

I'm very sad Mitts is gone. Loved the guy and especially now that he's so good. Had the same feeling at the time when we traded Myers and Reinhart.

It sounds like Mitts was on the block, or at least Kevyn was listening. I'm sure most of the deals he was offered were different versions of pick/player/5th - 10th best prospect/cap dump to make it work. That's all a lot of contending teams want to give up. Even if that pick was a first, it would be a low first and wouldn't help us for years.

With this trade, Adams took quality over quantity. Bryam is a very good young player - 4OA, Cup winner, not yet in his prime, "fits the window", great skater - all good things. He's just getting into his best years. He's also been healthy this year. Mitts had a couple of injury issues a couple of seasons ago and guys around here still called him injury prone even if he's the one guy who never misses a game. Byram can be that guy as well.

I'd love for this to set up another move at forward and maybe get awesome value for Joker as well. We'll see. But Mitts for Byram in a vacuum is a tremendous trade.

 

[tsujimoto74]

How are people convincing themselves Byram is right below Dahlin in terms of skill?

Probably by not watching at least one of those two players.

 

[old kummelweck]

Byram 'elite skater' and 'elite passer'

 

[dasaybz]

Neither player has shown to have the capabilities to do so, especially at as a consistent level as Casey played it for.

Last year didn't count?

 

[OkimLom]

We all think of Power as the top D on the second pair and the PP2 QB but now they can put Byram in that spot and let Power catch up a bit as the 3rd pair LHD. Power is still only in his second year pro. He also might be better with less minutes and we don't have to throw him in such critical situations as much with Byram around. No matter what Bryam right now becomes our second best defensemen and can eat minutes - and if Dahlin goes down for a bit he slots right into Dahl's spot.

So we're replacing the 2nd Pairing PPQB that has played 143 games, with a 2nd PPQB that has played 146 games for the betterment for Power...We don't know if he can eat minutes. He's often injured. He came from a much more competitive and structured team, and he didn't exactly produce as much as you would expect someone with as many physical traits as he does in terms of offensively gifted.

 

[Chainshot]

my devils advocate is everybody is ok with Sammy-Dahls, so why not Bo-Dahls going forward?

as far as I'm concerned Sammy should be 3LD taking the EJ role until he proves healthy for extended time...and maybe Joker is still upgraded at RD with a more balanced type.

I'll miss Mitts and get not being thrilled, but I guess I'll wait to see if anything else comes down the pipe.

I am not okay with either of those pairs at this point to be frank. They are paying Dahlin a lot of money for what he can do offensively, why would they make his pair the shutdown pair since the other two are not doing that as of how they are playing right now. Maybe one day? Sure. But in the realm of being good at it out of the gate next year, I find that hard to imagine.

As someone out here on the West Coast, I have seen a lot of Colorado games, I truly believe that he’s right below Dahlin, ahead of power.

He’s a special player, you guys are gonna notice that right away

I remember his Cup run and he was excellent. If they get that guy? Then they are going to look at this as being a solid deal. If they get the guy Byram and been on a much better Avs team than the one in Buffalo this regular season (and part of last), it's hard to see this as a win. Especially when it gives the Avs the piece they wanted so much.

 

[Irie]

I actually like Joker and I think he's been pretty good this season but he has a lot of value right now and the Byram trade makes him redundant. He's not a 3rd pair D and it's a waste to keep him as your 7th defenseman. Between Bryson, Clague, and a Rochester call up we're fine. Joker could be close to our Rasmus Sandin trade this season - lots of teams looking for young cost controlled RHD's.

I don't really see him as "7th" D. You can have depth that you rotate, and Joker has played much better with Dahlin lately on the top pairing. This years 7th D, R. johnson, was on pace to play 50+ games before this trade. We really need viable depth with Sammy's injury history.

I watched a lot of Jokiharju in the WHL, and I think he is only just arriving. He's finally found the switch to play like a man and not a frightened kid who just doesn't want to make a mistake. I also think he has minimal value at the moment. He's playing well, but teams won't give up any premium assets for him, so I think we'd be selling low.

This draft is weak, so a late first is rather Meh, but even then, I don't see another team giving up a late first for him. I think the best Adams pulls out is maybe a late 2nd and a 3rd, which in a weak draft just feels like a waste. I'd much rather have the reliable depth, especially in the form of a player that has not yet hit his ceiling than those picks. That's just my perspective, I know most would jump at a 2nd and a 3rd for Joker.

 

[5 Minute Major]

Did we just trade McDavid? WTF

No, we traded our top 2 way center for a left handed defenseman that has concussion problems.

Glad you like the trade.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Cozens and Tage are toolsy centers without, lets say, the largest toolboxes. Cozens is probably a better winger than center. You do not play winning hockey when your top 2 centers have shown limited ability to play 200' games. Krebs has been playing better, but being a solid 3C is still up in the air, let alone a solid 2C. Of the prospects mentioned, only Ostlund confidently projects as a center. And they're all prospects. Not one of them is going to come close to contributing what Mitts did this year.

I’m firmly on team “hate this trade,” but I do think Cozens eventually rounds into a strong 200’ center. He just had a very rough stretch this year after getting knocked around in that fight.

 

[OkimLom]

Last year didn't count?

Keyword, being consistent, so nope.

 

[Dreakon13]

Damn, didn't think they'd actually move Mitts...

Not sure what to make of this since I don't really know anything about Bryam. I feel like GMKA usually makes trades that are somewhere between not terribly offensive and not moving the needle, and it hasn't gotten us anywhere... so maybe the fact a lot of people here seem to hate this means it'll work out lol

 

[SwordStanley10]

This thread is so sad. I'm usually just a lurker, have been for a longtime, but I come here to read what I consider reasonable and rational hockey takes compared to those on twitter or reddit. This thread is nothing more than 10 pages of unrelenting bashing and negativity of anything Sabres. Even posters whom I have enjoyed reading for many years for their logical or unique takes, many times different than mine, have simply resorted to just bashing everything.

Its incredibly sad and I acknowledge its the Sabres' fault, but if you hate this team so much just step away, this is depressing and no good for anyones mental health to read. Avs fans coming to this board must think we're all insane. It's not that important. Yes, theres quite a large amount of risk here but Adams was just talking about how he tried to make moves for players with protection who wouldn't waive. Therefore, if you want elite talent, this is all Buffalo can really do short of tanking every year, at least until they build a winner. Maybe their vision is wrong (strong PMD for 50/60 mins a game) but at least lets see some discussion on the positives of Byram moving forward perhaps? Yeesh

EDIT: Correcting spelling errors. And sorry for any bad feelings, just makes me despondent this is what being a fan of this team is like today. I hate it and feel bad for all of us. I hope we get what we deserve and then some some day from this franchise.

 

[dasaybz]

No, we traded our top 2 way center for a left handed defenseman that has concussion problems.

Glad you like the trade.

I don't necessarily like it but it's not sell the team bad.