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

[tsujimoto74]

The more I think about this the less sense it makes. Casey finally pans out into a hell of a player, and the Sabres decide they don’t want to pay him and they’re willing to make their roster worse to avoid doing so. Ok. What are they going to do if Byram turns things around, stays healthy, and actually becomes good? Have 3 $8m+ defensemen?

 

[TheMistyStranger]

I meant, I was thinking something like this:

They are looking to make a big shakeup of the lineup. So they are putting up Power as the center piece of a big deal, that could involve other big names like Keller, Laine, Zegras, or maybe even in a package for Barzal?

I haven't been enamored with Power but I'm not interested in moving him for Laine or Zegras

 

[MOGlLNY]

I think the Power we have seen post injury is more what the real thing is - more closely aligned to last year. Rather than what we've seen most of the year.

 

[dasaybz]

Pretty funny how many people were ready to write Mitts off a couple years ago now those same people are fuming at the mouth like rabbid dogs. Saberz fans are a fun group

 

[Chainshot]

Do people really think Cozens and Thompson are cooked already? Feels like recency bias, it wasn't that long ago many here thought Mittlestadt was worth like a 5th at best

There are certainly questions about Cozens and Thompson with how they've struggled this year. Hopefully the adversity from this year drives them both to be better going forward. Cozens talking about try to score 40 was a warning flag over the summer - that's not his game and pushing himself to be a one-way forward doesn't utilize his size/reach/strength and transition defending ability. Thompson's early start was made worse by the collection of injuries he's picked up - clearly the wrist is still a problem and he came back weeks earlier than indicated to get into games. I remember hockey writers talking about how a wrist injury can often take upwards of a year for a player to get back to normal when Afinogenov had broken his. I wonder if Tage will take as long to get back to the accuracy he had prior to that. I don't think they are without concern as a 1-2 duo, especially now that the safety net they had has been dealt.

 

[elchud]

I really think they will commit to the D group they currently have?

In the 2025 offseason they either flip Byram or trade Power.

 

[Beerz]

Bynam has the potential for massive talent.

But it's way too risky a move especially considering it's a move that was the opposite of what we needed.


I'm going to take my time and watch Bynam play but..as of now I dislike this very much

 

[Dreakon13]

Do people really think Cozens and Thompson are cooked already? Feels like recency bias, it wasn't that long ago many here thought Mittlestadt was worth like a 5th at best

I think it is always going to be very difficult for Thompson to recreate that almost 50 goal year. Teams have kinda figured him out, and whether it's that, poor puck luck or injuries all those silky moves aren't working anymore. And I'm not sure what he's capable of adjusting into if he's not putting up those numbers.

Cozens I think will be okay once Quinn is healthy or he gets two linemates that he can help produce and help him produce. That being said, I still have no idea what Cozens strength is really when things are working. His shot, his passing, his size? A little bit of all of it?

It's a little bit of a tough pill to swallow to pay these two with their question marks, and move Mitts when he was finally answering most of his. But I get why they did with all their eggs already in TT and Cozens baskets.

 

[HaNotsri]

Do people really think Cozens and Thompson are cooked already? Feels like recency bias, it wasn't that long ago many here thought Mittlestadt was worth like a 5th at best

No but I think they are good players that can play c. I would have liked to have at least one of them on the wing. Imagine having multiple good players that we can use as centers now we have Cozens, Thompson, Krebs - Östlund is probably our fourth best center right now.

I want to puke.

 

[DapperCam]

Mittelstadt was one of a few players that brought it consistently. If he was unwilling to re-sign, then this kind of makes sense, even though I think the value is bad. I think Adams is in over his head.

Tbh I would have rather dealt Cozens, but maybe he doesn’t get it done. Kind of bummed about this deal.

 

[MOGlLNY]

I think the Sabres

No but I think they are good players that can play c. I would have liked to have at least one of them on the wing. Imagine having multiple good players that we can use as centers now we have Cozens, Thompson, Krebs - Östlund is probably our fourth best center right now.

I want to puke.

I don't need to imagine, we watched it all year and we are going to be picking lower than we did last year.

I'm bummed out at losing Mitts but I'm not gonna pretend like him being here is the difference between being good and bad.

 

[HaNotsri]

Bynam has the potential for massive talent.

But it's way too risky a move especially considering it's a move that was the opposite of what we needed.


I'm going to take my time and watch Bynam play but..as of now I dislike this very much

It's a huge risk with very little upside. Also know as stupidity. Our best option is probably to trade Byram++ ASAP.

 

[OkimLom]

re @OkimLom's repsonse to my post - This is exactly what I was speaking to earlier re this board just spewing toxicity. I was just pointing out one small ray of potential benefit of this move, and instantly its shot down. No positivity or silver lining allowed, ever. Everything sucks, and always will. Raze the arena and burn the franchise from the history books then.

Or perhaps, lets think this through for a moment - Cozens had a rough start to the year with the burden of his new contract and his face caved in against Philly. Tage is clearly playing with multiple injuries. Who exactly were the Sabres trading then, according to your post? Dahlin is the face of the franchise, nobody is touching the Skinner or Samuelsson contracts. This is exactly the toxic discourse I'm talking about. Just temper tantrums and no actual rational thought into what to do next.

And I think Granato is also part of the problem, but the over-the-top "brotherly love" has been as much on the players as it is the coach. He doesn't play the game or work out in the offseason, they do. He doesn't make them all spend all star breaks in the Caribbean together, they do. If you're good enough friends, enough with the brofest and call out your friends to step up. Thats on the players, not the coach.

And this speaks about the quality of leadership of the coaching staff, and the veteran leadership and player types that the GM brings in, and paints a picture of what could be wrong with the room and the players on the roster. The coach sets the standards of the room. The actions of the players and if they are performing terrible habits, NEED and SHOULD be checked at the door.

But if management is trying to send a message sending Casey away, when he's been a picture of everything they would EXPECT to see from their player, it shows that maybe Adams and the coaching staff don't have a grasp on knowing what they want to do. Instead of pointing at Casey and saying "look what Casey did, we expect each and everyone of you to follow suit". It would be a lot easier to sell to the players than "hey look at how much Casey improved by doing what we wanted, and because he's close to you guys, we are getting rid of him". Just a reminder, he was the one at his college during the all-star week, getting some skating in. It don't make sense.

Now the most likely reason why Casey was traded, was rooted in his contract situation, which is completely fair, but there's a ton of backlash from fans, from different ends of the spectrum, that may look at previous comments and actions from management and coaches of saying one thing, looking at Casey checking off a lot of the things they "value" and are reacting accordingly.

EDIT: @SwordStanley10 Care to point out where the toxicity was in my post (since you pointed to me specifically). I was just responding to some of the things you said, as I clearly disagreed with the post.

 

[Chainshot]

I haven't been enamored with Power but I'm not interested in moving him for Laine or Zegras

Hearing about Zegras not being willing to put in the work to get stronger nor put in the work to defend at the NHL level in comments from Friedman just last week seems to back up the eye test there.

 

[HaNotsri]

I think the Sabres

I don't need to imagine, we watched it all year and we are going to be picking lower than we did last year.

I'm bummed out at losing Mitts but I'm not gonna pretend like him being here is the difference between being good and bad.

I wanted us to add to the center we have, not subtract.
Maybe we can be involved in a three-way with Flames and Lightning.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

This trade doesn’t make sense from the Sabres pov. I hope there are other moves coming that would make it make sense.

"We've got a plan, and we're sticking to it."

Feeling reassured now?

 

[MOGlLNY]

"We've got a plan, and we're sticking to it."

View attachment 830661

Feeling reassured now?

lmao

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

My least favorite part is that his claim to fame on the Avs board over the past two seasons is the guy who constantly takes inopportune penalties. Like we really need that.

It's not a disaster, it just doesn't make sense and doesn't make us better.

 

[Game suspension]

Man this is one bitter board. Byram can move out there. I mean I get that Mitt is having a good year but you would think he was quite the #1 center reading some of these posts.

What can I say. I like the trade. At least give Byram 10 games before crying a river. The only thing that concerns me is Byram's next contract. Sabres might end up with the most expensive D in the league.

 

[old kummelweck]

Do people really think Cozens and Thompson are cooked already? Feels like recency bias, it wasn't that long ago many here thought Mittlestadt was worth like a 5th at best

Not cooked at all. For me Cozens lost confidence after getting his face rearranged and it's taken this long to come back.

Thompson, though, something is not right with his game and I am officially concerned.

 

[MOGlLNY]

I know the past year matters. But if you told me we'd get Bowen Byram for Casey Mittelstadt last December I would've asked what drugs you were on

 

[joshjull]

"We've got a plan, and we're sticking to it."

View attachment 830661

Feeling reassured now?

I’ll have to see the rest of the plan play out. But at the moment, no.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Pretty funny how many people were ready to write Mitts off a couple years ago now those same people are fuming at the mouth like rabbid dogs. Saberz fans are a fun group

Yeah, a couple of years ago. Same thing with the entire NHL who thought Byram's career was done...a couple of years ago.

If you wait 2-3 years to dunk on someone, it's not the dunk you think it is.

 

[Tsyolin]

There are certainly questions about Cozens and Thompson with how they've struggled this year. Hopefully the adversity from this year drives them both to be better going forward. Cozens talking about try to score 40 was a warning flag over the summer - that's not his game and pushing himself to be a one-way forward doesn't utilize his size/reach/strength and transition defending ability. Thompson's early start was made worse by the collection of injuries he's picked up - clearly the wrist is still a problem and he came back weeks earlier than indicated to get into games. I remember hockey writers talking about how a wrist injury can often take upwards of a year for a player to get back to normal when Afinogenov had broken his. I wonder if Tage will take as long to get back to the accuracy he had prior to that. I don't think they are without concern as a 1-2 duo, especially now that the safety net they had has been dealt.

All very good points, I guess I'm not as taken aback by the trade because I had already mentally written Mitts off at this point, I just didn't think there was any chance they moved off Thompson or Cozens.

I don't neccesarily love the trade but I wanted an NHL player back and I'm not sure how much better they could have gotten. I'm hoping for the best on Byram, I do think we needed another asset on D so I didn't mind the pickup, risky as it may be.

 

[Fearnot]

Maybe Byrams terrible defense and great offense will jumpstart our terrible offense. Never liked either player so the trade is a big meh for me but let's see how it goes.