Buffalo Sabres: Which player has the most to prove in 2022-23?
As a unit, the Buffalo Sabres still have a lot to prove to themselves. But one player has more to prove than their peers. That player? Casey Mittelstadt.
The Buffalo Sabres are a team finally on the rise and they have a lot of players ready to take the next step in their career. But there are also a few still struggling to show that they deserve to play in the Queen City long-term, and no one has struggled more than Casey Mittelstadt.
While Mittelstadt has shown at times he was worthy of the eighth overall pick, his injury history, inconsistent play, and inability to improve from season to season has him riding the potential bust label. After all of this, he may still enter 2022-23 as the second line center.
No one on the Buffalo Sabres has more to prove than Casey Mittelstadt
Zach Rhode of The Hockey Writers listed three players with the most to prove in the Queen City, and Mittelstadt was Lucky #1 on their list, with the other two being Henri Jokiharju and Eric Comrie. While Jokiharju must prove he can remain a fixture in the defensive rotation and Comrie, the ability to start for an extended period, it is not likely either will get replaced in 2023-24.
You can’t say the same for Mittelstadt. Avoiding injury will be key, as the star-crossed center has seen his fair share of production when healthy, something we saw toward the end of the 2021-22 campaign. Rhodes noticed that he played at his best with Rasmus Asplund and Victor Olofsson as line mates.
Problem is, Asplund may wind up on the third line with the upstart Peyton Krebs likely to take over at left wing on the second. However, there is a chance Olofsson will line up alongside Mittelstadt.
A possibility remains that Asplund does play on the second though. If this occurs, the line would comprise a potential high-profile scorer in Olofsson, one of the league’s better defensive forwards with Asplund, and Mittelstadt. The latter of whom logged his best Corsi For of 49.1% since 2017-18 and a career-best Fenwick For of 48.9%.
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This indicates Mittelstadt can help create scoring opportunities when he is on the ice. While both scores remain under 50%, they are at least trending upward, and that says a lot for a center facing a potential boom-or-bust season.
Article Source: 3 Sabres With the Most to Prove in 2022-23 by Zach Rohde
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)