Confirmed Trade: [COL/BUF] Casey Mittelstadt for Bowen Byram

[Irie]

He wanted to be in Buffalo. I don't buy into the cap casualty argument. It would have been better to move a contract and even pay to move one. Byram is a nice player but doesn't seem to check any boxes.

Adams could have moved another contract, yes, and that would probably have been better, but moving Mitts out was absolutely due to cap issues going forward. Why Adams chose to move mitts instead of someone else, well that is the mystery.

As far as paying to move a contract, the only player that they would have to include payment to move is skinner, and the amount it would cost to move that albatross would be truly terrifying.

 

[Uberpecker]

No he's just been with the team and losing culture for a while...I want to move these kind of players out...Okposo and Girgensons too

RoR, Eichel and Reinhart had been with that losing culture, too. Look how that turned out.
At least three of those four will have cups after all is said and done, I'm almost certain.

 

[Mattilaus]

So do the Avs win the cup this year?

RoR traded, Blues win the cup
Eichel traded, Knights win the cup
Mitts traded ....

Sabres traded centers = cup wins, it's a formula.

I know he didn't win the cup....yet, but Reinhart seems to be working out fine in Florida too.

This feels like a Win for both teams. Pleasure doing biz with ya!

if it was a pleasure for you then that should tell you it's not a win for the other team.

 

[JLo217]

I know he didn't win the cup....yet, but Reinhart seems to be working out fine in Florida too.


if it was a pleasure for you then that should tell you it's not a win for the other team.

Sorry it seemed like both fanbases were happy.

 

[Matthews4Calder]

To call this a fleece would be extreme, but I think COL wins this trade massively.

I think you may be underestimating Byram and not like Mittelstadt was lighting it up. 6+ years in the league and hasn't topped 60 points. He'll produce better in Colorado I think but Byram if stays healthy can be a good offensive D man for years to come.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Mittelstadt seems to always be about to take that next step, Byram seems to always miss games due to injury. Seems like one problem player for another. I can see Mittelstadt getting bullied at center in the west.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Mittelstadt seems to always be about to take that next step, Byram seems to always miss games due to injury. Seems like one problem player for another. I can see Mittelstadt getting bullied at center in the west.

Mittelstadt took that next step a year and a half ago tbh.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

So do the Avs win the cup this year?

RoR traded, Blues win the cup
Eichel traded, Knights win the cup
Mitts traded ....

Sabres traded centers = cup wins, it's a formula.

Surprised nobody else bid more for the Cup. Sorry other teams.

 

[Grub]

Has Bowen Byram really fell off AVS fans? I would have thought he was a good bet as a Top 2 guy one day. Not that Casey is not a great player as well.

 

[McJedi]

Buffalo is going to win this trade handily. But the Avs needed a 2C badly. Much more than 3 puck moving LHDs. They needed better L to R shot balance.

The Avs have better roster balance now.

Byram will blow past Power and become a star in Buffalo. Avs didn’t need him like buffalo will. They’ll deploy him correctly. And Byram will shine with the added responsibility but also the better forwards to play with.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

Has Bowen Byram really fell off AVS fans? I would have thought he was a good bet as a Top 2 guy one day.

This season, a bit yeah. He's 22 though.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

people act like byram is a god send or something
insanely hyped d-man who hasn't done much at all at NHL level

Avs takes the W in this one

 

[Valushkin]

Has Bowen Byram really fell off AVS fans? I would have thought he was a good bet as a Top 2 guy one day. Not that Casey is not a great player as well.

He’s gonna be a stud if given more opportunity to play top pair minutes in Buffalo

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

Shades of Gauthier for Drysdale

I think Byram's value is still quite a bit higher than Mittelstadt but good change of scenery deal for both players

Middlestadt was producing well. He didn’t need a change of scenery. Byram is a hope. I think Colorado wins this.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Byram has almost twice the much pim's what points in the NHL

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

Byram has almost twice the much pim's what points in the NHL

Pims don’t win games. I’d rather have the scorer over the injury-prone pimer.

 

[Grigowski]

I would say this is a "Win-Win-Trade".

Colorado gets the much needed 2C, Buffalo gets a very good D-Man that could become a Top-D-Man for them.

So both teams should be happy and move on.

Wishing Byram all the best in Buffalo. Great guy on and off the ice and a beloved teammate.

 

[jimmysheva]

We tried Byram-Makar pairing for a few games last year but didn't work out

 

[wunderpanda]

i like chaos, the sabres exchanged centre chaos for defense chaos, and bo will be easier to trade next year than dahlin, power & samuelson.

 

[McJedi]

Delete

 

[threeVo]

people act like byram is a god send or something
insanely hyped d-man who hasn't done much at all at NHL level

Avs takes the W in this one

Mitts is a good player but the Sabres flipped him at his absolute peak value. Byram will be good as well. This is a good hockey trade

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

This is an interesting one.

I think it shows that Dahlin is an RD long term most likely.

I see a lot of upset Sabres fans but I think you win this deal if Byram can stay healthy (bit of a big 'if' unfortunately).

Byram is dynamic and can control the game at times. I haven't paid a lot of attention to him this year and Avs fans seem a bit down on him and are saying he gets tunnel vision at times.

But he's also a 22 year old D man in the NHL. There are good D in the league who were in their first NHL season at that age.

I know there was a lot of affinity for Mittelstadt because you guys invested a lot of love and fandom into him and he was incredibly disappointing only to come good in the last year or two, and he's also one of the few things that has gone right this year.

But you have Thompson and Cozens with young centers on the way, D has been a perpetual problem, and Byram has incredible upside.

I would be happy if I was you.
-

On the Avs side, this makes them a scary team for this year (along with the Sean Walker acquisition), but I can't help but feel that this is all just trying to repair a terrible choice in RyJo in the off season.

Like good for them for not rolling with the sunk-cost thing. But that decision meant that they turned a 1st and Byram, who was dominant in a Stanley Cup winning run at like 20 btw, for Walker and Mittelstadt. Bad asset management if you're going for sustainability, but if they felt they couldn't throw away a Hart year from Mackinnon I guess it's defensible.

But the Central is a bloodbath, they could easily lose in the 1st round and then this starts to look brutal.

Either way, it just makes the NHL more fascinating to follow. Love these hockey trades of good player for good player.

 

[Oddbob]

Byram is a fine player, but this doesn't make roster sense for Buffalo. They already have 4-5 young defenders in the top 4-6 playing fairly prominent roles, seems they would have been better off getting a young forward for Mittelstadt.

 

[TehDoak]

As a Sabres fan, this is pure idiocy from Adams. Consider:

1. Buffalo has 20 million tied up in Power and Dahlin already. Part of that is Adams fault by giving Power that huge contract before he earned it.
2. Buffalo does not have a ready made center replacement. They have prospects and Krebs who has not shown he can produce offense at a regular pace
3. This summers UFA crop runs deep with what they need, a steady 2nd pair rhd to play with Power. Dumba/Pesce/Tanev/etc. so they could have addressed it utilizing cap space rather than trading an expensive asset.

Essentially he took a position of weakness and traded to reinforce a position of strength. The opposite of what you want to do as an organization. And he could have waited to the summer to move Mittelstadt for a better fit.

 

[Davenport]

I'm happy for Mittelstadt. Finally - after spending parts of seven seasons in Buffalo - he will get a taste of postseason play. Be interesting to see how many seasons without postseason action Byram will be willing to endure with the Sabres.