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

[PatLaFontaineASMR]

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.

1. What does that have to do with Bo? If Power had earned an 8M contract he'd be getting 11M. That's just how things work.
2. We literally have Krebs. It's hard to produce offense on the 4th line with Okposo & Girgensons. Funny because Mitts had the same exact problem 3 years ago. When he was labeled a bust for not producing with Jimmy Vesey & Sheary.
3. They need to overpay for a 30+ year old defender? Hilarious that's your approach & then mention utilizing cap space lol.

How is it a position of weakness when we already have 3Cs & a big pipeline of great C prospects? Keeping Mitts we would've had the issue of having 3 Cs all making close to 7M long term.

He should've waited during the summer when Mitts is an RFA without a contract...? You think his value would've been higher? This was literally peak of Mitts value for us.

 

[Rob Brown]

Love trades like this. Feels a bit like Johansen for Jones - not necessarily in terms of talent/production at the point of the trade, but just two young players at different positions.

 

[TageGod]

This year, he IS clearly better than Thompson.

Point watching. He has been average at BEST the last two months. He plays like crap 2/3 of a hockey game most nights now.

Yeah but having 3 top six lines would have been sick still possible though with savoie, kulich, ostlund, Rosen and wahlberg coming up also our first round pick this year. Plus offense is generated from the back end almost always so having a d-core full of decent puck movers is not a bad thing especially with the type of forwards we have and our style of play but having our forwards come back more often would help too which has happened more this season.

There is no reason they can't have this. We now know KA has major moves planned. He can't just subtract from our goal scoring (well playmaker) without adding. Expect a big move for a top 6 F. Probably offseason.

 

[TehDoak]

1. What does that have to do with Bo? If Power had earned an 8M contract he'd be getting 11M. That's just how things work.

Power was a 10.2 RFA. Meaning he had no real rights. Couldn't have been offersheeted, no arb rights. There was no reason to hand that huge contract to power when he did. And it has to do something with Bo because if this trade works out great...you'll be spending 27M+ on 3 d-men who are all of a similar mold

2. We literally have Krebs. It's hard to produce offense on the 4th line with Okposo & Girgensons. Funny because Mitts had the same exact problem 3 years ago. When he was labeled a bust for not producing with Jimmy Vesey & Sheary.

Because we are in the midst of a 13 year playoff drought. Do you want to wait 2 more full seasons for Krebs to produce any sort of reliable offense? Especially when you consider the struggles Thompson and Cozens had this year?

3. They need to overpay for a 30+ year old defender? Hilarious that's your approach & then mention utilizing cap space lol.

Yeah man, 30+ year old d-men never win cups. Or mentor young d-men. Or provide steady play in their own zone. When D-men turn 30, their legs just fall right off. Might as well old yeller them all.

How is it a position of weakness when we already have 3Cs & a big pipeline of great C prospects? Keeping Mitts we would've had the issue of having 3 Cs all making close to 7M long term.

He should've waited during the summer when Mitts is an RFA without a contract...? You think his value would've been higher? This was literally peak of Mitts value for us.

It's a pipeline of players who played center in junior. That isn't a 1-1 correlation of playing in the NHL. And none of them are ready to make the jump to the NHL.

I wasn't opposed to trading Mittelstadt. But to trade him for another young puck moving d-man is stupid, even one with the high potential of Byram, is cripping one part of your team to reinforce one that already has 2 1st overall picks on it that are making elite level contracts.

 

[Spilot23]

Love trades like this. Feels a bit like Johansen for Jones - not necessarily in terms of talent/production at the point of the trade, but just two young players at different positions.

 

[EdAVSfan]

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.

The Avs take here is a little weird.

You’ve made it seem like they’re paying this massive price for the RyJo mistake. Honestly, think about it. The price to acquire a quality, young 2C was prob always going to cost something like Byram. The Avs were always going to have to re-purpose their salary. They were spending too much money on D. Avs fans all knew that D had to be traded out whether it was now, or in the offseason. To be able to do so while also acquiring their most important need, in prob the 3rd most important position on an NHL team, was fantastic.
At the same time, Mittlestadt is a long term solution. Not a rental, nor is he old. Good old fashioned hockey trade.

So the only part where I can understand the « asset management waste » part comes from the 1st rounder. I mean, sure, the pick probably had to be elevated to move RyJo, but at the same time, what would it have cost to acquire Walker in the first place? At minimum a 2nd +. Considering the Avs got a 5th back, is the value that different?

I actually think from a sustainability position, this imhas solidified it. They have will have their core nucleus of 1C, 2C and 1D locked up, with several good support pieces.

Worst case scenario, you have to move a good winger to ré-accumulate assets. Not seeing the downside

 

[Dirty Dog]

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

It looks like he’s going to play with Dahlin on the top pairing down the stretch, so we’ll see. As a Sabres fan I hope you’re right.

I think mitts is going to excel in colorado

 

[Team Cozens]

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.

How do you know if Adams doesn't flip Power for a Rasmus Andersson type RHD and or trades to acquire a 2C like Laughton, Couture or Bugstad (sp) (as rumored)

 

[MOGlLNY]

How do you know if Adams doesn't flip Power for a Rasmus Andersson type RHD and or trades to acquire a 2C like Laughton, Couture or Bugstad (sp) (as rumored)

I love Andersson, but if Adams moves Power for him when he has plenty of other pieces to get it done, I will be irate. Also none of those guys are 2Cs so I'd be extremely concerned.

 

[PatLaFontaineASMR]

Power was a 10.2 RFA. Meaning he had no real rights. Couldn't have been offersheeted, no arb rights. There was no reason to hand that huge contract to power when he did. And it has to do something with Bo because if this trade works out great...you'll be spending 27M+ on 3 d-men who are all of a similar mold



Because we are in the midst of a 13 year playoff drought. Do you want to wait 2 more full seasons for Krebs to produce any sort of reliable offense? Especially when you consider the struggles Thompson and Cozens had this year?



Yeah man, 30+ year old d-men never win cups. Or mentor young d-men. Or provide steady play in their own zone. When D-men turn 30, their legs just fall right off. Might as well old yeller them all.



It's a pipeline of players who played center in junior. That isn't a 1-1 correlation of playing in the NHL. And none of them are ready to make the jump to the NHL.

I wasn't opposed to trading Mittelstadt. But to trade him for another young puck moving d-man is stupid, even one with the high potential of Byram, is cripping one part of your team to reinforce one that already has 2 1st overall picks on it that are making elite level contracts.

The cap is going up. That's why they offered Power a deal now. I mean it's pretty obvious.

"Because we are in the midst of a 13 year playoff drought. Do you want to wait 2 more full seasons for Krebs to produce any sort of reliable offense? Especially when you consider the struggles Thompson and Cozens had this year?"

I know this sound crazy but when you give guys solid talent around them they produce.

"Yeah man, 30+ year old d-men never win cups.:Or mentor young d-men. Or provide steady play in their own zone. "

Lmao what a strawman. Conveniently left out the overpay part. Overpaying 30+ year old defenders to huge contracts isn't what wins championships. Funny to complain about the cap, but want to give Pesce 7M for 7 years.

"It's a pipeline of players who played center in junior. That isn't a 1-1 correlation of playing in the NHL. And none of them are ready to make the jump to the NHL."

Kulich & Savoie are about ready what are you on about? We have Tage/Cozens/Krebs for now. Krebs is playing fine.

"I wasn't opposed to trading Mittelstadt. But to trade him for another young puck moving d-man is stupid, even one with the high potential of Byram, is cripping one part of your team to reinforce one that already has 2 1st overall picks on it that are making elite level contracts"

Oh the horror of having more than 2 good puck moving d men.

 

[Mattilaus]

How do you know if Adams doesn't flip Power for a Rasmus Andersson type RHD and or trades to acquire a 2C like Laughton, Couture or Bugstad (sp) (as rumored)

Neither Laughton, nor Bjugstad are 2Cs.

The cap is going up. That's why they offered Power a deal now. I mean it's pretty obvious.

"Because we are in the midst of a 13 year playoff drought. Do you want to wait 2 more full seasons for Krebs to produce any sort of reliable offense? Especially when you consider the struggles Thompson and Cozens had this year?"

I know this sound crazy but when you give guys solid talent around them they produce.

"Yeah man, 30+ year old d-men never win cups.:Or mentor young d-men. Or provide steady play in their own zone. "

Lmao what a strawman. Conveniently left out the overpay part. Overpaying 30+ year old defenders to huge contracts isn't what wins championships. Funny to complain about the cap, but want to give Pesce 7M for 7 years.

"It's a pipeline of players who played center in junior. That isn't a 1-1 correlation of playing in the NHL. And none of them are ready to make the jump to the NHL."

Kulich & Savoie are about ready what are you on about? We have Tage/Cozens/Krebs for now. Krebs is playing fine.

"I wasn't opposed to trading Mittelstadt. But to trade him for another young puck moving d-man is stupid, even one with the high potential of Byram, is cripping one part of your team to reinforce one that already has 2 1st overall picks on it that are making elite level contracts"

Oh the horror of having more than 2 good puck moving d men.

Neither Kulich, nor Savoie are likely to play C so i don't see how them being ready for the NHL refutes his point. Also I would take Pesce at 7x7 all day every day. Gimme gimme gimme. Most of the Sabres board would too.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

It looks like he’s going to play with Dahlin on the top pairing down the stretch, so we’ll see. As a Sabres fan I hope you’re right.

I think mitts is going to excel in colorado

He’s gonna go full Reinhart. Maybe not 2nd in goals good, but he’s gonna hit ppg soon. I called it when Sam moved, I’m doubling down now.

 

[The Abusement Park]

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.

That’s a good description of Bo tbf.

 

[DickSmehlik]

Mittlestadt has a career high of 59 points and was trending for finishing with 62 points this season. I swear we traded Gretzky's second coming by some of the comments here.

The fact is the Sabres view him, and I agree, as the lowest ceiling of their 3 top centers. He is maybe the most versatile of the 3 centers but he doesn't have the upside that Cozens or Thompson possess.

I also get why a franchise mired in constant inertia, did not want to commit another $7 million dollars in a long term contract to another player who hasn't been part of the solution to date.

I could easily see a scenario where they are in the same spot next season, wondering where they go from here, except they committed a good portion of their remaining cap space to Mittlestadt.

We all new Adams needed to add a top 4 D coming into the season, it is too bad he waited this long to get the memo.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Win-win for both teams, but I’ll give Buffalo the slight advantage because I think it could be a home run for them and don’t see that type of amazing outcome for Colorado.

For Colorado, Byram isn’t really needed. He’s never going to be their 1 and possibly not their 2 either with how good Toews is. He could end up their 3, but they have so much defensive depth without him. They don’t really need him. It was also trading a player before his value bottomed out. A lot haven’t noticed that he’s been terrible the last two seasons and might not be what he was expected to be. They fill a need of a 2C. Mittelstadt is a fine 2C in the middle of his career, even if unspectacular.

For Buffalo, I see almost no downside. You take a swing on a potential 1D. He’s probably not going to ever pass Dahlin and might not pass Power, but if he finds his game that could be a team with 3 1’s. Thats the foundation for a potential dynasty. They needed defensive help bad. Even if Byram stays what he was in Colorado, you still have Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson as your top 3, Byram as your 4, and this lengthens your lineup. Thompson and Cozens are better players than Mittelstadt and their top 6 centers of the future and some combo of Savoie, Kulich, and Oestlund should be able to fill 3C over the coming years. Trading from a position of strength, get the player with more upside, and lengthen the lineup at a weaker position.

 

[The Abusement Park]

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.

It’s been up and down with Byram. He was good but injured his rookie year and was incredible in the cup run. Then last year he showed some good offensive pop but was a bit of an adventure in his own zone. And then this year he’s just been kind of a mess overall. Still flashes his talent in both zones here but definitely has some work to do to rein it in. Should hopefully end up being a win win though.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Mittlestadt has a career high of 59 points and was trending for finishing with 62 points this season. I swear we traded Gretzky's second coming by some of the comments here.

The fact is the Sabres view him, and I agree, as the lowest ceiling of their 3 top centers. He is maybe the most versatile of the 3 centers but he doesn't have the upside that Cozens or Thompson possess.

I also get why a franchise mired in constant inertia, did not want to commit another $7 million dollars in a long term contract to another player who hasn't been part of the solution to date.

I could easily see a scenario where they are in the same spot next season, wondering where they go from here, except they committed a good portion of their remaining cap space to Mittlestadt.

We all new Adams needed to add a top 4 D coming into the season, it is too bad he waited this long to get the memo.

I love Mitts and think he will do great in Colorado. Think this is a good view of the deal as well - Sabres are betting on upside. Not just on Byram but that Cozens and Thompson will be better than Mittelstadt going forward and would become unnecessary and expensive.

We'll see.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Watched two periods last night and didn't see Byram once. Offensive defenseman my ass.

Buffalo got bent.

Bust.

Just incase

 

[Mattilaus]

Win-win for both teams, but I’ll give Buffalo the slight advantage because I think it could be a home run for them and don’t see that type of amazing outcome for Colorado.

For Colorado, Byram isn’t really needed. He’s never going to be their 1 and possibly not their 2 either with how good Toews is. He could end up their 3, but they have so much defensive depth without him. They don’t really need him. It was also trading a player before his value bottomed out. A lot haven’t noticed that he’s been terrible the last two seasons and might not be what he was expected to be. They fill a need of a 2C. Mittelstadt is a fine 2C in the middle of his career, even if unspectacular.

For Buffalo, I see almost no downside. You take a swing on a potential 1D. He’s probably not going to ever pass Dahlin and might not pass Power, but if he finds his game that could be a team with 3 1’s. Thats the foundation for a potential dynasty. They needed defensive help bad. Even if Byram stays what he was in Colorado, you still have Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson as your top 3, Byram as your 4, and this lengthens your lineup. Thompson and Cozens are better players than Mittelstadt and their top 6 centers of the future and some combo of Savoie, Kulich, and Oestlund should be able to fill 3C over the coming years. Trading from a position of strength, get the player with more upside, and lengthen the lineup at a weaker position.

For some reason Byram behind Makar and Toews is no good because he would only be their #3 but him behind Dahlin and Power is good because then he gets to be a #3!

 

[FlameChampion]

Having the summer off might be good for Byram to get more healthy

 

[Djp]

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.

It will be interesting to see markings

Samuelsson is done for the year
Plan on EJ getting traded

LD--Byram, RyJo,Power, bryson
RD Dahlin. Jokiharju, Clifton

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

I think they trade either byram or Power for RD.

They could also move Jokiharju for a RD in a different deal

As for center, it like like thompson, dozens, krebs play C
Thry have some prospects who could play center. Expect them to pick a C or RD with top pick in 24 draft

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

For some reason Byram behind Makar and Toews is no good because he would only be their #3 but him behind Dahlin and Power is good because then he gets to be a #3!

You completely polluted sound logic.

Colorado doesn’t have defense problems. They have Girard, Manson, and Walker as their 3-5.

After 1-3, Buffalo has an okay 4 or 5 in Jokiharju, and basically nothing else. Johnson could be something, but upside isn’t high and he’s still very inexperienced. Adding a top 4 defenseman is something that Buffalo needed to do and you know that.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

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.

Struggled with injuries. Potential and upside still there.

 

[Mattilaus]

You completely polluted sound logic.

Colorado doesn’t have defense problems. They have Girard, Manson, and Walker as their 3-5.

After 1-3, Buffalo has an okay 4 or 5 in Jokiharju, and basically nothing else. Johnson could be something, but upside isn’t high and he’s still very inexperienced. Adding a top 4 defenseman is something that Buffalo needed to do and you know that.

I do know that. I would have just liked one that can play D and/or isn't injured 50% of the time and/or is right handed, but we got one who doesn't check any one of those boxes. We already have a D filled with left handed, puck movers. Byram adds nothing we don't already have in spades.

 

[The Hockey Tonk Man]

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

I like both players, but you could say the same for Mittelstadt.

Seems like a solid trade for both teams