Buffalo Sabres: Criticizing Casey Mittelstadt makes no sense these days

Despite Casey Mittelstadt’s 51 points this season, many in the Buffalo Sabres fanbase want to run him out of town. But that makes zero sense. 

Once upon a time, Casey Mittelstadt was one player who deserved mounds of criticism. The former eighth overall pick was injury-prone, he lacked strength, grit, and he even looked disinterested at times. As a result, he never scored over 25 points in a season.

Then October 2022 swung around, and we saw more of the same, except after the first three games, Mittelstadt looked worse than ever. Inconsistency came not long after that, but since December 2022, he’s been one of the Buffalo Sabres better players. No, not the best, not even top five, and barely top ten, but he’s been in the top half for sure.

And now, after 51 points in 77 contests, not to mention he’s the only member of the Sabres this season to appear in each game, there is still a cluster of fans that, for some unknown reason, want him out of town. Clearly, at this stage, there is no logic here.

Buffalo Sabres fans need to stop criticizing Casey Mittelstadt

One common denominator I’ve heard about from fans is that he’s a pass-first forward who doesn’t shoot the puck. Okay, so your argument is valid IF it hurts the Sabres, but in case you haven’t noticed, Mittelstadt’s third on the team in assists behind only Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson.

He also has 49 takeaways this season, showing us that his defensive play is also valuable. And it’s safe to say a significant portion of those takeaways have led to Mittelstadt becoming the catalyst for scoring chances, even if he’s not the one taking the shot on net.

That said, Buffalo may never get the production out of Mittelstadt that they expected when they drafted him eighth overall. But he’s found his niche as a bottom six forward who has become one of the best passers on the team. So even if he’s not taking shots, he’s finding teammates who have open looks, and he’s been succeeding in that role rather well this year.

Overall, feel free to criticize Mittelstadt if he regresses next season. But as of right now, you need to be grateful that a former eighth overall pick not only salvaged his career; he’s also becoming known for being having dynamic passing tendencies and on-ice awareness.

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)