Center--Casey Mittelstadt
DOB: November 22, 1998 (20 yrs. old)
Draft: 2017, 8th-overall
How acquired: Drafted by Buffalo
Last contract signed: March 26, 2018, ELC 3yrs./$4.4475M ($925K base salary)
Final year of contract: 2019-20
2018-19 Stats: 77 games | 12 goals | 13 assists | 25 points | -19 | 13:27 ATOI
Buffalo Career Stats: 83 games | 13 goals | 17 assists | 30 points | -18 | 13:30 ATOI
What we wrote preseason: Buffalo Sabres rookie center Casey Mittelstadt has rated very high in a number of prospect rankings and is considered one of the top NHL prospects for 2018-19. The prevailing theme [GM Jason Botterill] and his scouts saw with Mittelstadt may have been summed up nicely (albeit maybe just a tad overzealously) by [Scott] Wheeler [The Athletic] when he wrote last weekend that the Eden Prarie, Minnesota high school graduate has a "rare mix of [being] already-incredibly-talented and yet still super, super raw."
At the 2015 NHL Draft the Buffalo Sabres selected center Jack Eichel second overall to be the future No. 1 center on the club and traded for O'Reilly to be No. 2. Three years later Eichel is the franchise center and O'Reilly has been replaced by Mittelstadt. Both of those are very good one-two punches but in a few years, that Eichel/Mittelstadt duo may be amongst some of the best in the league. It all starts this season with Mittelstadt cutting his teeth in a full time No. 2 center role. And I don't think the 19 yr. old will have much difficulty with either the high expectations placed upon him or the transition.
What we wrote mid-season: The mid-six in Buffalo's lineup has been in a constant state of flux this entire season as Housley can't seem to find the right mix, at least on a consistent, long-term basis. Having said that, the most skilled of those players is Mittelstadt. The 20 yr. old rookie has been thrown into the fire somewhat with the trade of O'Reilly, Buffalo's No. 2 center, and the failure of various players, including vets, to fill that spot. Mittelstadt isn't lighting up the scoreboard as he only has 10 points (5+5) in 37 games, but Housley has raved about him at times while calling attention to his focus upon playing a 200' game. As of late Mittelstadt has really been showing off some of the skills that made him a 2017 eighth-overall pick and we've seen him skating and stickhandling with much more confidence after getting acclimated to the speed of the NHL. He's done pretty much everything but consistently hit the scoresheet all while playing with a surprising amount of grit and dogged determination that belies his baby face. Some of his scoring woes can be traced back to little or no chemistry on a line that's facing tough competition on a nightly basis while some of it also has to do with the lack of time and space he's yet to adjust to. Mittelstadt has been finding himself in good spots on a consistent basis, especially as of late, but his trigger needs to be a touch faster and once he gets that, we should see his numbers spike upward.
Impressions on his play this year: Mittelstadt wasn't ready for No. 2 center duties, it's as simple as that, but going back to what Wheeler said, the talent is there but he most definitely is "super, super raw."
What we saw this season after he got more acclimated to the NHL game was a player in Mittelstadt who looked as if he tried to do way too much on his own. He's an excellent skater and stick-handles the puck very well but this is the NHL and the players he faced on a nightly basis are mostly quick and skilled and know how to stick check. Many of the good ones on the better teams have played in systems that know how to eliminate that kind of individualized talent and it wasn't all that difficult to take out this rookie when he tried to do it on his own.
From a pure numbers perspective, Mittelstadt's 25 points weren't all that impressive, especially when you consider his o-zone starts were above 70%, and his minus-19 rating is downright ugly. On many occasions we'd see the puck head the other way when Mittelstadt and his linemates were on the ice and of all the lines for the Sabres this season, it seemed as if his line had the most trouble getting it back out of the zone.
Some are already writing him off, which is a crazy notion. Mittelstadt has a lot of raw talent and skills to work with and despite his struggles, a little more work in the weight room, some wingers he can mesh with and a coach behind the bench that knows what he's doing should help move him along nicely. This is about development not only on an individual basis, but from a team perspective as well. You can draft all the top-10 picks you want but if they're not developed properly, what good are they?
Questions moving forward: Will the Sabres organization stabilize the hockey department and get it moving forward? Will the development plan Botterill and the team have in place take hold and allow their players to blossom? Will Buffalo be able to land a middle-six center who can handle No. 2 center duties while Mittelstadt continues to develop? How much muscle can Mittelstadt add on? How much will he work on his shot over the summer? How much progress should we expect from him next season? 40 points? More?
Contract info via CapFriendly, stats via sabres.com and hockey reference.com.
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