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Buffalo Sabres: Why Casey Mittelstadt will be even better in 2023-24

By Sion Fawkes

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 10: Casey Mittelstadt #37 of the Buffalo Sabres celebrates his third period game-tying goal against the New York Rangers and is joined by Alex Tuch #89 at Madison Square Garden on April 10, 2023 in New York City. The Sabres defeated the Rangers 3-2 in the shootout. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 10: Casey Mittelstadt #37 of the Buffalo Sabres celebrates his third period game-tying goal against the New York Rangers and is joined by Alex Tuch #89 at Madison Square Garden on April 10, 2023 in New York City. The Sabres defeated the Rangers 3-2 in the shootout. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Casey Mittelstadt was looked on as yet another in a long line of Buffalo Sabres draft busts from the 2010s until he turned things around last season. 

Casey Mittelstadt is coming off of an awesome season where he scored 59 points, 15 goals, and 44 assists. Of course, he’s also had more bad seasons than his epic breakout in 2022-23, so it’s natural to believe he can revert back into his old self, and that would be horrible for a team entering next year with playoff aspirations.

But honestly, those worries are futile, as Mittlestadt is more likely to pick up where he left off last year. One point to remember is that when healthy, he has proven in the past to be one of the Blue and Gold’s best players. Remember, he was the top center going into the 2021-22 season before a core injury derailed his year.

So it’s no coincidence that when Mittelstadt was the healthiest member of the Sabres, and the only one to see time in all 82 contests, that he also happened to be one of the better players for a good two-thirds of the season. Yeah, he still struggled in October and November, but that may have stemmed from lack of confidence more than anything else.

Mittelstadt will be more productive for the Buffalo Sabres in 2023-24

While I won’t make my actual prediction regarding Mittelstadt until August, I will clue you in that I believe he will be more productive in 2023-24. Not only has Mittelstadt’s confidence returned; he’s also stopped overthinking, and that translated into a better overall game for the forward.

Now that Mittelstadt knows what he’s capable of, look for him to enjoy a full season of immense productivity that we saw become more pronounced as the 2022-23 season moved on. And in case you were wondering, between December 29th and April 14th, Mittelstadt scored 42 times, with 10 goals, and 32 assists, across 50 games, per Lance Lysowski of Buffalo News. 

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That translates to 0.84 points per game in that span, and if you take that across an 82 game season, you’re looking at 69 total points. So if Mittelstadt is healthy once more for the upcoming campaign, don’t be surprised if he reaches the 70-point threshold for the first time in his career. And yes, that will more than warrant a contract extension at some point in the year.

Source: How does Casey Mittelstadt’s breakthrough impact the Sabres’ offseason plans? by Lance Lysowski, BuffaloNews.com. 

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