In this series we build the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster one by one leading up to the season opener on October 3.
C--Casey Mittelstadt
20 yrs. old
6'1" 202 lbs.
2017, eighth-overall
Career stats: 80 games | 13 goal |17 assists | 25 points | -18
Last year during our roster build, we quoted The Athletic's Scott Wheeler who made Sabres rookie center Casey Mittlestadt one of his 10 Gifted prospects to watch heading into the 2018-19 campaign. Wheeler wrote of the 19 yr. old Mittelstadt, who'd just turned pro after one year of college, "[he's] already extremely talented yet super, super raw."
Mittelstadt had battled hard at the University of Minnesota as the Gophers only real threat (outside of maybe sophomore, Rem Pitlick) and finished his lone season with a rather average 30 points (11+19) in 34 games. He hit the NHL and had an impressive six-game debut with a goal and four assists. The trade of No. 2 center Ryan O'Reilly created an opening behind Jack Eichel and only Mittelstadt and veteran Patrik Berglund seemed to be in the running for that opening. Berglund would end up being the choice for the Sabres with the rookie starting out on the third line.
While building the 2018-19 roster here, we had Mittelstadt at the No. 2 slot surrounded by two veteran wingers in Jeff Skinner and Kyle Okposo. That never came to fruition on the second line but Mittelstadt and Okposo started out on the third line with Vladimir Sobotka as their right winger. Three games later Mittelstadt had two new wingers in Johan Larsson and 21 yr. old Tage Thompson.
What transpired in the early part of the season was a lot of forward shuffling while coach Phil Housley tried to find the right combinations. He eventually found a very capable top line but secondary scoring fell off a cliff and to make matters worse, Berglund wasn't getting the job done and after falling down the depth chart and into the press box, he left the NHL entirely.
Those turn of events put the onus on Mittelstadt to be Buffalo's No. 2 center and it proved to be too much for the kid. Mittelstadt struggled with the game itself and the endurance needed to play an 82-game season and his first season for the Sabres was regarded as below average, at best.
As we head into the 2019-20 season the Sabres are still faced with the same problems they had last year as they're still bereft of a true second-line center and their top-nine depth still needs work even though general manager Jason Botterill landed two versatile top-nine forwards. All indications are that Mittelstadt will be the second line center and he will be flanked by two veteran wingers. How new head coach Ralph Krueger approaches this is to be determined but at least this season he'll have a couple more choices than Housley did last year.
Indications are that Mittelstadt has a good grasp of what to expect heading into his second season and came into the Sabres Fan Fest a couple of weekends ago looking rather svelte. According to Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News, Mittelstadt called his trainer, former Sabre Erik Rasmussen with three weeks left in the season. Mittelstadt wanted to get started just a few days after the end of the season on his training regimen, to which Rasmussen was said to have replied, "There's no way you're starting then.
"Casey said, 'I will be there and we're starting.'"
Botterill talked to the gathered media at Fan Fest telling the gathered media that Mittelstadt "has taken the summer very seriously."
"I think he's taken a big step," said Botterill, "he faced some adversity last year. We challenged him a little bit about some of his conditioning [and] I think he's done that extremely well."
Conditioning is huge for a young player, especially a teenager who came from the college ranks where the length of a season is less than half of what the pros play. Many teenagers and players in there very early 20's are still filling out their frames and getting accustomed to playing against men. It's a huge jump to the NHL whether it's college or Canadian Junior and Botterill stressed that he thinks "it's always that first or second year where good players take that jump."
By no means is this a make-or-break year for either Mittelstadt or the Sabres, but seeing significant year-over-year progress should be a minimum goal. As a 19 yr. old Housley sheltered his minutes with a team-high 84.03% offensive zone starts but there wasn't much the coach could do when it came to the personnel Mittelstadt had on his wings. This year things will be different as he'll have at least one player on his wing that can drive play and that 12-goal/13-assist stat-line should see a marked improvement.
The only other option they have right now at No. 2 center is 26 yr. old Evan Rodrigues, a versatile forward who's more suited to a third-line/bottom-six role. Rodrigues had spot duty in the top-six and performed admirably, but Mittelstadt has the raw skills to be a mainstay up there.
However, he's still "super, super raw."
Building the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Brandon Montour
G, Carter Hutton
_____________ / C, Casey Mittelstadt / _________
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Brandon Montour
G, Carter Hutton
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