If Casey Mittelstadt scores a huge goal or sets one up with a beautiful pass for the Colorado Avalanche this spring, there is one member of the organization who will probably feel an extra twinge of pride.
Mittelstadt’s career hit an unexpected low point in 2019-20, when the Buffalo Sabres sent their recent top-10 draft pick and a player who carried such high expectations to Rochester in the American Hockey League. Toby Petersen, now a skills coach for the Avalanche, was an assistant coach on that team.
Things had not gone according to plan with the Sabres after joining the club after his freshman season at the University of Minnesota and a full rookie season in the NHL at 20 years old. Mittelstadt played 36 games with Petersen and the Americans.
“I think that was a big turning point for myself,” Mittelstadt said. “I was able to go down and just play really freely. The coaches were really supportive. I think I started to really enjoy being at the rink with the guys and having fun again. I realized that I love this game and this is what I want to do. Having Toby on the staff was huge for me. He and Chris Taylor, they’re great guys and great people and they helped me a lot.”
Mittelstadt’s rise, fall and rebirth as an NHL player is a reminder that not every prospect, not even the phenoms, has a smooth, linear path to fulfilling their potential. He is one of the best players in Minnesota high school hockey history. He was the No. 8 pick in the 2017 NHL draft.
Players picked that high, particularly forwards, often never see the AHL. And when they do after spending 114 games in the NHL, it’s seen as a disappointment. Mittelstadt said there were a lot of people who deserved credit for helping him get to this point — in the midst of a second-straight productive season and the No. 2 center on a Stanley Cup contender after the Avs traded defenseman Bo Byram for him this past week.
Hockey is a small world, and Mittelstadt, now 25 years old, is reunited with one of those people.
“I was pretty excited when I heard (Petersen) was here,” Mittelstadt said. “He’s a familiar face and someone that I can bounce things off. We had a great relationship in Rochester. He’s obviously a smart hockey mind, so definitely excited to have him here.”
The Avalanche believes Mittelstadt can solve what has been the organization’s toughest riddle: Who can be the next center on the depth chart after Nathan MacKinnon? It worked with Nazem Kardi, and there’s a Stanley Cup banner at Ball Arena as a reminder.
It has not worked to varying degrees with several others, most recently Alex Newhook, J.T. Compher and Ryan Johansen. Mittelstadt began his Avs career Friday night next to Valeri Nichushkin and Jonathan Drouin, and both his new coach and general manager have made it clear that’s the spot in the lineup they expect him to help upgrade.
“We’re not trading Bo Byram for a 31-year-old or a 30-year-old. We’re not trading Bo Byram probably for a winger,” Avs GM Chris MacFarland said Friday. “Defensemen are really hard to get, and top-two line centers, top-three line centers are really hard to get. You’ve got to draft them or you’ve got to pay a big price to get them, whether that’s in free agency or via trade. So the fact that we traded a player and a person of Bo’s stature for Casey tells you what we think of him.
“We think an awful lot of him. We think he’s going to have a big role here. Hopefully it will be a good marriage, but we’re excited to have him.”
Mittelstadt’s breakout didn’t happen directly after his time in Rochester, but injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic were factors. He played 81 games across two seasons, and the production did tick upward.
A bigger jump came last season. He finished with 15 goals and 59 points. He followed that up this year with 14 goals and a team-leading 47 points in 62 games before the trade. If he can produce at a similar level for the Avalanche, Colorado will have its most productive No. 2 center since Kadri left.
But the Avs believe there could still be more for Mittelstadt to unlock. MacFarland mentioned it the day they traded for him. Mittelstadt has taken longer to blossom into an impact player, but the jump from high school hockey to the NHL with just one season at the NCAA level might have been too much, too fast.
His body needed time to develop, and he needed time to figure out how to translate his sublime skills to the pace and physicality of the NHL.
“He’s got good hands. He’s a very good playmaking center with really good vision,” MacFarland said. “We think the last two years, his game has taken a jump. He’s gotten stronger with experience, and we think there might even be another level to his game.”
There’s another reason to dream a little more on Mittelstadt. Several young players have left Buffalo in recent seasons, a franchise that hasn’t reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011, and found a new level of performance elsewhere.
Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues, Brandon Montour and Linus Ullmark, who were all teammates of Mittelstadt’s when he broke into the NHL, have all reached new heights after moving on.
“He’s just emerging as a really good, high-end player in the league,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Sometimes it takes guys different lengths of time to kind of get to that spot. I do think there’s lots of growth left in his game, though. I think he could be a more consistent player, a player that can contribute on a nightly basis. Not that he’s not now, but even more so and being more of an impact player. That’s just maturity, etc., etc. Just watching him a couple of years ago to where he is now has been huge gains. Hopefully he can continue to do that.”
Mittelstadt’s greatest strength is his playmaking ability and how he sees the ice. He made a pass during the morning skate Friday while the Avs were practicing the power play — a cross-ice dish through several defenders — that drew oohs and aahs from media in attendance. He had a slick no-look pass from the left point to a teammate near the edge of the crease in his debut.
He’s found a way to be more than a flashy pass here or there as he’s carved out an NHL career with the Sabres. Now the Avs think he can be the last key piece of their ferocious attack and help secure a second championship in three years.
For Mittelstadt, a guy who has spent most of his life in Minnesota and Western New York, there are many sunny days ahead in Denver away from the rink. He and his new club hope that is true on the ice as well.
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Corey Masisak
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