biturbo19
Registered User
- Jul 13, 2010
- 25,891
- 10,952
Mittelstadt is
Wait a 60+ point 2C with team control is less valuable than a D that is UFA in two years? Tell me you don't watch the Sabres without telling me you don't watch them. He is their best forward this year.
No one actually realizes this, but the Sabre's actually don't need D. They need a revamped forward core that does the intangibles better and more consistent. Mitts is one of the ones that fits what we need.
He's a ~60pt #2C on a bad team with a small track record of producing that way after teetering on the brink of being a borderline bust. He's also 25, will be 26 by more or less the start of next season. He's not some super young prospect with huge untapped upside at this point. It's more likely that this is his career high water mark, than him developing into anything more than that.
He's also an RFA with arbitration rights that's going to be commanding a deal based on a "breakout year". With all the leverage to turn that into early UFA if he wants to, where he can pick his own landing spot and holds all the leverage in asking price as the cap jumps up.
That sort of "team control", we've seen become pretty useless. Especially for American players who don't want to play in Canada. You could very well end up with less functional team control than the two remaining years of Andersson on a contract that pays him about half of what he'd get on the market.
I just don't see the value in a #2C about to get paid, fetching a Top-pairing RHD on a fantastic contract. Whether Buffalo are comfortable taking on a guy who is UFA in two years or not, other teams absolutely would be.
As for what the Sabres needs...well...they certainly need more responsible 2-way Forwards who buy in and play the right way as well. But to say they don't actually need defensive help as well, seems like burying your head in the sand and ignoring a problem just because it's too obvious or something.