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

[Krieger Bot]

They should look at their 1C .. 1W and 1D

Georgiev posting an .880 save percentage through the first 5 games of the series didn't help either. Nor did losing Nuke and Toews, 2 of their 7-8 most important players.

I thought Mitts was decent for the Avs. I see him as an above-average 2C. Not in the top tier of guys. But there aren't like 50-60 centers better than him either. As a result, there are a few teams in the league that have 2 guys who are clearly better than him (e.g., Edmonton). But there's also a couple teams that were still playing hockey this round who have guys in the top 6 that are clearly below Mitts (Boston, and with Lindholm's struggles this year, Vancouver too). Hopefully Byram's physical tools shine with a new team and new coaching, and we don't always look back at this one with regret.

 

[Chainshot]

I'm glad I was spared a 3rd Sabres center immediately winning the cup after leaving.

Yeah, Rodrigues is much longer gone but is still in the mix.

 

[Jacob582]

I was okay with giving Casey a short term (3 years) deal and walking him to free agency if they felt he made the team better during those years.

 

[SwordsgoneWild]

I would be happy for Sam, and upset with Okie,Mountour,Kulikov TBH Panthers have been pretty dirty since their resurgence. I'm pulling for the winner of Edm/Van after Col got eliminated they really missed not having Landeskog.

You can pull up a seat with those of us on the Nucks bandwagon. I'm hoping that they advance tonight.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

You're certainly one of the better regular posters, who I've tended to agree with more often than not with over the years. So I'll just say that on this occasion I think this is a terrible take.

Adams is not going to trade either TT/Cozens so soon after extending them in the manner that he did. Adams undoubtedly made those decisions with Mitts clearly in the picture... Mitts was always going to be the odd man out

TT/Cozens are our guys & i think it's fickle at best to describe them as you have done in this post.

Nobody has said 'we don't need three pretty good centres' but it's clear that we do need a different type of player to Mitts. It is possible that Krebs could develop into the guy we want him to be - i haven't completely given up on him - but i think at this point we do add someone from outside the organisation. We have the biggest war chest in the league in terms of tradable assets - i have at times been as frustrated as anyone with Adams - but i truly believe that he's on the right path & have loved everything he has said in recent presses. I think he's going to back his words up with actions this offseason. At least wait until the season starts before criticising him for not making moves.

I think your take on Byram is way off too. You're entitled to that opinion of course - but i would at least give him & this coaching staff a chance before instantly dismissing him as worthless. As I've written above in my reply to Doak - i think having that trio really puts us in a unique position.

I'm not hating on you for being positive about the trade either. I've posted before that I don't think any of them should have been traded, that they really needed the C depth until any prospect could supplant any of them (which imo is only Ostlund). There shouldn't have been an "odd man out", but if we needed a different type of C, it was for Thompson, not Mitts. Mitts is clearly the smartest of the three.

I don't believe in Krebs. I don't believe Byram adds what the D-corps lacks. There's a chance Ruff can revamp the entire unit and improve how the team defends, so just maybe there is a net gain regardless of how defensively lacking Byram is (and he is). But I don't have any confidence in KA being able to make a savvy trade to replace Mitts. He's going to hope on prospects, and if he tries otherwise I'm actually afraid of the result because he hasn't actually made a good trade that improved the team immediately.

 

[joshjull]

I can't believe there is so much negativity towards this trade... No wait it's HF Sabres - of course I can.

With TT/Cozens already signed long term there was simply no room for Mitts to join them. Mitts wasn't ever being extended long term. Surely that should be obvious? Would it have been better to walk him to UFA & lose him for nothing? Either way - it's not like there is a dearth of offensively talented forwards in the pipeline to replace his production...

We badly needed another bona fide top 4 D & we needed to make a big 'Ffor D' type trade for what seems like forever. Byram might not be the guy any of us were expecting - but now that it happened i really like it. Forget about handedness - the guy is a stud in the making. A top 4 comprising he, Dahlin & Power is tantalising, the type of core perennial contenders are built upon. A competent coach will make it work.

I agree that we now likely need to acquire another centre unless you really believe in Krebs. But the centre we need is a completely different type of player to Mitts.

Mitts was an effective forward anywhere in the top 6/top 9. He wasn’t just a center. He also spent about a seasons worth of time over the last two seasons as our #1 center. First filling in for an injured Tage at the end of last season and then stepping up for an injured Tage/struggling Cozens for the bulk of this season. There was certainly a place for him on the roster had they kept him.

I don’t know if it was your intent, but you seem to be dismissing his loss as something easily replaced by the talent in the system. We have no one who can step up as the #1 center anytime soon. Nor will the type of center we acquire this offseason likely be the type capable of that. Hopefully it won’t matter.

I find it ironic when posters argue there wasn’t a spot for Mitts due to Tage/Cozens. Yet they miss the parallel situation with Byram due to Dahlin/Power. It’s not that you can’t or shouldn’t have either player. It’s just that the situations aren’t that common. So it’s pretty weird to see an argument using depth/future contract against Mitts while praising the addition of Byram. Who is in a similar situation at a different position.

We needed a better defensive dman than Joker in the top 4. Preferably one with size, physicality and experience would be good too. Basically an experienced Sammy with hopefully better durability. Teams rarely have dman of Dahlin’s level, let alone another one with that upside (Power). It’s pretty hard to argue we had a need for the type of dman Byram is.

The point of the above is that there are legit hockey reasons to have an issue with this trade. That said………

I get the logic behind the trade and it was fair value. Adams thinks he’s rounded out his top 4 dmen by adding Byram. I’m skeptical he’s the answer but I know he’s a very talent kid with a lot of upside. I’m going to wait for the roster building to play out as well as what Lindy does before making any final judgement on the trade. I’m keeping an open mind.

 

[5 Minute Major]

What I saw overall he's not a surefire 2C so I think the crying and hand wringing about losing Mittlestadt needs to stop.

It’s not about losing Mittelstadt. Not for me.

It’s the return. The return leaves a lot to be desired. The return did nothing to help this team moving forward. It was redundant.

 

[toddkaz]

Mittelstadt for Necas? Oh wait.

 

[dortt]

Yeah, Rodrigues is much longer gone but is still in the mix.

how in the world did we pigeonhole EROD as minor league/4th line fodder while he was here, when his ass should have been stapled to Jack's wing from day 1?

Were Murray, Botts, Bylsma, and Phail all drunk off their asses?

 

[Chainshot]

how in the world did we pigeonhole EROD as minor league/4th line fodder while he was here, when his ass should have been stapled to Jack's wing from day 1?

Were Murray, Botts, Bylsma, and Phail all drunk off their asses?

There is a lot of stupid in that list of names.

 

[MOGlLNY]

I was okay with giving Casey a short term (3 years) deal and walking him to free agency if they felt he made the team better during those years.

Yeah I was in the same boat. But I understood why they felt they needed to trade him if they felt like he would be too expensive for our third center / they felt Byram was the right fit.

I’m still skeptical on Byram but idk, we’ll see.

 

[Chainshot]

Yeah I was in the same boat. But I understood why they felt they needed to trade him if they felt like he would be too expensive for our third center / they felt Byram was the right fit.

I’m still skeptical on Byram but idk, we’ll see.

I get that they said they wanted a top 4 defenseman. I also see that they now don't have a viable replacement if there is an injury in either of their top lines OR if they need to shake that up like was needed at points this season. They are now in need of a center.

 

[Archie Lee]

I get that they said they wanted a top 4 defenseman. I also see that they now don't have a viable replacement if there is an injury in either of their top lines OR if they need to shake that up like was needed at points this season. They are now in need of a center.

I agree with this. I don’t think Mitts would have cost us $7million per either. I think he will be locked up by Colorado at under $6 million per. Since we don’t have an elite #1C, the value of keeping Mitts was that it gave us three legit 2nd line centres. If Krebs or one of the kids had earned a top 9 spot, one of the top 3 could have moved to wing.

When I play around on capfriendly, I can build a much better roster for next year with Mitts extended at $6 million and no Byram, than I can with Byram at $3.8 and no Mitts.

 

[MOGlLNY]

I get that they said they wanted a top 4 defenseman. I also see that they now don't have a viable replacement if there is an injury in either of their top lines OR if they need to shake that up like was needed at points this season. They are now in need of a center.

Which makes me believe they were looking for a different identity with their 3C. Which I think if they’re actually a good player would be helpful for our team comparative to Casey.

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

Which makes me believe they were looking for a different identity with their 3C. Which I think if they’re actually a good player would be helpful for our team comparative to Casey.

That type of 3C would not have prevented us from keeping Mitts. It wasn't an either or. Cozens, Thompson or Mitts at 1st or 2nd line winger at times would still be worth around 7 million and give the added versatility of playing center when there is injury or a need of a lineup change.

If there was a need to push a forward out due to cap reasons, it should not have been one of the only forwards on the team that is strong on the forecheck and defensively responsible.

 

[Chainshot]

Which makes me believe they were looking for a different identity with their 3C. Which I think if they’re actually a good player would be helpful for our team comparative to Casey.

I preferred the flexibility up the lineup and his defensive pursuit game. I don't know if they're going to find that in a down the lineup center right now but we'll see.

 

[sabremike]

I get that they said they wanted a top 4 defenseman. I also see that they now don't have a viable replacement if there is an injury in either of their top lines OR if they need to shake that up like was needed at points this season. They are now in need of a center.

Adams was just about the least qualified GM hire in NHL history so the fact that his asset management skills are very poor should come as no surprise. Did anyone in the media ever ask Adams what exactly he was going to do to fix the gigantic hole in the lineup he foolishly inflicted on it? The fact it appears the belief is Krebs will magically step into the role and work despite no evidence suggesting that will actually happen is amusing as that exact thinking with Casey was used to justify the ROR trade debacle/disaster.

 

[Chainshot]

Adams was just about the least qualified GM hire in NHL history so the fact that his asset management skills are very poor should come as no surprise. Did anyone in the media ever ask Adams what exactly he was going to do to fix the gigantic hole in the lineup he foolishly inflicted on it? The fact it appears the belief is Krebs will magically step into the role and work despite no evidence suggesting that will actually happen is amusing as that exact thinking with Casey was used to justify the ROR trade debacle/disaster.

I still like him more than Murray or Botterill so the "in history" part... nah. Not even this team.

 

[Matt Ress]

Adams was just about the least qualified GM hire in NHL history so the fact that his asset management skills are very poor should come as no surprise. Did anyone in the media ever ask Adams what exactly he was going to do to fix the gigantic hole in the lineup he foolishly inflicted on it? The fact it appears the belief is Krebs will magically step into the role and work despite no evidence suggesting that will actually happen is amusing as that exact thinking with Casey was used to justify the ROR trade debacle/disaster.

I'm not a Krebs fan and a Mitts supporter through thick and thin but it should be hypothetically easier to replace a middle 6C than acquire a young top 4D. Let's see how the summer shakes out. I know Adams will be the lazy GM until he's not but there's no urgency atm

 

[debaser66]

I preferred the flexibility up the lineup and his defensive pursuit game. I don't know if they're going to find that in a down the lineup center right now but we'll see.

Things could go well but its a gamble that Thompson/Cozens perform at previous levels.
For me a savvy GM should avoid that risk and keep the guy that was actually the best of the 3 and good at things which the other are not capable of/still learning (I hope Thompson gets it with a new coach what game he actually needs to play for a team to get anywhere)
Mitts was their best center since the end of last season.
The dont have many top6 options who are capable of that kind of game.
Now they have to find someone outside to replace him, I am not sure it will cost much less, they have to add extra $ for anyone to come here given the history of the team.
I still think a more D responsible physical D would have been the better choice, also capwise.

 

[sabremike]

I still like him more than Murray or Botterill so the "in history" part... nah. Not even this team.

We are talking in terms of qualifications for the job, not results/performance. Kevyn is like Garf being promoted by Charles Wang from backup goalie to GM.

 

[StrompTroller]

This team has been so inept of 2way talent for so long that we have now built Casey into some irreplaceable God lol. It was a weird trade and didn;t seem to fit our needs as many have echoed but the way people get riled up over this is ridiculous. I had absolutely no interest in signing Casey to potentially a 7 million dollar contract which might have been what it took.

Recency bias is also crazy here. Now Tage and Cozens will never rebound (UNDER A NEW COACH) after injury plagued years and we need Casey like crazy even though before many were bashing Casey and pumping those guys up.

Mitts was a bright spot the last 1.5 years for sure and Byram is redundant all that is valid. I'm gonna guess though that in 10 years when Casey ends up a low end Duchene/Ryjo type this deal won't be nearly as important as you guys all think. This has losing stafford or roy written all over it to me. That being said if Byram stays healthy (huge IF) he could be a game breaking dman (albeit admittedly not what we needed). Mehhhh I'm not losing sleep over the trade....

 

[joshjull]

Which makes me believe they were looking for a different identity with their 3C. Which I think if they’re actually a good player would be helpful for our team comparative to Casey.

I don’t know what you’re basing that on. Everything Adams has talked about has been about acquiring a 4c who is good defensively, good on draws and can PK. I feel pretty confident our bottom 2 centers will be Krebs and whoever we acquire.

 

[Gabrielor]

I don’t know what you’re basing that on. Everything Adams has talked about has been about acquiring a 4c who is good defensively, good on draws and can PK. I feel pretty confident our bottom 2 centers will be Krebs and whoever we acquire.

Hence the smoke being on Boone Jenner and Scott Laughton.

 

[joshjull]

Hence the smoke being on Boone Jenner and Scott Laughton.

I’ve seen nothing reliable on Boone Jenner and from all indications their owner would never allow him to be traded. For Laughton there is definitely a lot of smoke for sure.

But I still see little to suggest this trade was anything other than an opportunity to add a dman they liked and felt could round out our top 4.