Buffalo Sabres: Analyst says Mittelstadt could be a trade piece

Buffalo Sabres forward Casey Mittelstadt finally played like a former eighth overall pick, but will he continue his career with another team?

Paul Hamilton of WGRZ wrote an inspiring piece regarding the Buffalo Sabres opening window of opportunity to not just earn a trip to the playoffs, but to also contend for the Stanley Cup. It was a phenomenal read, and you can find the link to it at the bottom of this post. But if there was one thing that jumped out at me more than anything, it was that he stated Casey Mittelstadt could be used in a trade to acquire a defenseman.

"“You could maybe even use Casey Mittelstadt for this. The former first-round pick had his best season with 15 goals and 44 assists for 59 points. He’s still only 23 years old and could be very attractive to a team that needs forwards, but is willing to give up that defenseman that Buffalo needs.” – Paul Hamilton, via WGRZ.com"

Honestly, considering how well Mittelstadt played this past season and the way he continually created scoring opportunities for teammates as the 2022-23 season wore on, there is no way I’d trade the gritty forward. He was a pivotal part of the Sabres unprecedented improvement in 2022-23, and at this point, there is no proven player in the lineup that I’d be willing to replace him with.

Buffalo Sabres need a defenseman, but not at Mittelstadt’s expense

Yesterday, I talked about how there are several blueliners over age 30 that the Sabres can go out and get. Names like Ian Cole, Scott Mayfield, and Radko Gudas would all be good fits, but those were just a handful of many names the Blue and Gold could be willing to sign to a two-year deal.

This leads me to another reason why it would be foolish to trade Mittelstadt for a defensemen: If you signed someone over age 30 who could still easily play top four minutes for two seasons, then you have three talented defensemen to choose from when you need to replace them in Nikita Novikov, Ryan Johnson, or Vsevolod Komarov.

With Mittelstadt’s overall productivity last season and his emergence as a bit of a grinder, there is no way I’m trading him 24-year-old who looks like he’s just hitting his stride. And even if Mittelstadt were to regress back into his former self, I still wouldn’t regret not trading him.

There is too much up and coming talent on defense to send him elsewhere for a blueliner when you could, in the meantime, sign a more than capable stopgap. Plus, there is also too much talent at forward in case you needed to replace Mittelstadt. If you keep him, you’re in a win-win situation no matter what he looks like in 2023-24.

Source: Hamilton Take 2: The Sabres’ window to win is now opening by Paul Hamilton, WGRZ.com