When Casey Mittelstadt was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in March, it was met with a load of scrutiny and confusion. And why wouldn’t it be?
Colorado traded one of its elite young defensemen, Bowen Byram, to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Mittelstadt.
Byram, 22, was on pace for a career season, tallying 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 55 games for the Avs. But he was also staring at some stiff competition for any real offensive or power-play time, with Cale Makar and Devon Toews on the same roster.
Mittelstadt was in the final year of a three-year, $7.5 million contract with Buffalo. The former Minnesota Golden Gopher had tallied 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists) in 62 games at the time of the trade.
But did Colorado need more offense? Wouldn’t this move leave them shorthanded on the blue line?
Well, on the same day, the Avalanche also traded for Philadelphia Flyers’ defenseman Sean Walker. Now looking back at that deal, it seems Colorado may have known exactly what it was doing.
Mittelstadt racked up 10 points (four goals, six points) in 18 regular-season games with the Avs. In his first taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the 25-year-old has nine points (three goals, six assists) in 10 games, including a huge goal in the 5-3 win that kept Colorado alive in Game 5 against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Another guy too, to go away from the stars in Colorado. I was really curious to see what the Avs would get out of Casey Mittelstadt in these playoffs. Obviously, spending the beginning parts of his career in Buffalo, never getting a taste of playoff hockey… I’ve been very impressed with that deal. I think that one is going to go down in two, three, four, five years as a true win-win, considering what each side needed.
Frank Seravalli: Agreed. And I love the Bowen Byram upside… He’s a guy that was never going to get power-play opportunities in a place like Colorado… Mittelstadt seemed to be exactly what they needed for the here and for the future.
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