The Avalanche’s Casey Mittelstadt proved himself indispensable and worthy of a new contract

The Vegas Golden Knights dominated the 2024 NHL trade deadline. Not content with a single big deal of Noah Hanifin, they went all in and acquired Tomas Hertl, who had spent 11 seasons with the San Jose Sharks.

Their actions served to stifle many other major movements around the deadline, including the trade of Casey Mittelstadt and Bowen Byram between the Colorado Avalanche and Buffalo Sabres, which may end up being the largest transaction of the season.

It is uncommon to see a trade of two former top-10 picks before the age of 26, much less one-for-one and with such significant consequences. The Avalanche wanted to lock down their top six, while the Sabres battled to discover Rasmus Dahlin’s dynamic future partner.

As a result, Byram quickly challenged for minutes in Buffalo’s top pairing, and Mittelstadt was assigned to Colorado’s second line as Nathan MacKinnon’s backup. Additionally, the action appeared to be a clear acknowledgment of Mittelstadt’s talent despite the murk of trade controversy.

After spending years traveling about the Sabres offense, he eventually lived up to his eighth-overall selection in the 2017 NHL Draft with a career-high 59 points in the 2022–2023 season. The Avalanche made the wise decision to take advantage of this opportunity while simultaneously letting go of their own bright but erratic young player, and they have already reaped significant rewards

After being traded to Colorado, Mittelstadt immediately proved to be a fantastic fit for Jared Bednar’s system, scoring 10 points in 18 games during the regular season. When he was used with wingers Jonathan Drouin and Artturi Lehkonen, he looked a lot more assured and reliable than he did when he was in Buffalo.

Mittelstadt appeared to really take off with the Avalanche after establishing himself with the Sabres in the NHL. He reinforced this impression with a strong postseason showing that saw him score nine points in 11 games.

The Avalanche, who have struggled to find a reliable center depth behind MacKinnon since losing Nazem Kadri to the Calgary Flames in 2022 free agency, surely found the good performance exciting.
During the 2022–23 season, Evan Rodrigues and Alex Newhook platooned in the role, with Rodrigues scoring 39 points in 69 games, and the combination was generally successful. Now, that combination is nothing compared to Mittelstadt, who scored 57 points in 80 games this year and may be on the verge of surpassing the 60-point plateau for the first time in his career the next season.

However, nothing in the NHL comes too easily, and the Avalanche will now have to resign Mittelstadt before they can call themselves the future center of the second line.

Going into the summer, Mittelstadt is probably Colorado’s most costly free agent, but defenseman Sean Walker will be a strong contender as well because of his high-scoring position in the top four. As of the summer, Colorado’s cap space was approximately $15.92 million, and just nine players were set to become free agents. They should be able to resign their preferred set of pending free agents because of it.

It is impossible to overstate the significance of inking Mittelstadt, though. During the 2021–22 campaign, Kadri made a name for himself in Colorado’s second line rotation by scoring 87 points in 71 games, which is still a career high. Since then, he has signed a fantastic seven-year, $49 million contract with the Calgary Flames.

Mittelstadt might be the one to take over the position after the previous two seasons saw no reliable player step up to replace Kadri’s impressive showing. The Avalanche will undoubtedly hope that turns out to be the case, given the uncertainty surrounding Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin’s futures.

Although both Mittelstadt and seasoned winger Jonathan Drouin require new contracts, they may be an easy, if unanticipated, replacement for those absences.

Not much assistance is needed for the Colorado offense. Since the Avalanche are leading the league in scoring this season, it is clear that players MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar can guide the team through any challenge. Even though the team’s core has already won one Stanley Cup, they cannot afford to sit back and take it all in.

The Avalanche have the opportunity to secure a much-needed spot in the starting lineup for the foreseeable future in Mittelstadt, which would be ideal given that the team must negotiate Makar’s contract extension in 2027 and Rantanen’s extension next summer.

Byram and Mittelstadt’s trade might bring yet another pillar to the Colorado lineup with lucrative contract discussions; also, it would make Landeskog and Nichushkin’s returns an asset rather than a must.