C Casey Mittelstadt (2017, 8th, BUF) II

[Ace]

Considering he played half a season in the USHL, plus U18, the high school argument is ridiculous.

Especially since he led the USHL in points per game that year doing a half season.

The reasoning on Mittelstadt has always been ridiculous.

 

[Deen]

He is a gamer. He will fight Tkachuk for MVP imo

 

[Team Cozens]

Looking forward to the next round of 5 video clips/tweets of amazing plays from Casey today.
He is a human highlight reel.

 

[WADEugottaBELAKthat]

Honest question: what are Middelstadt´s weaknesses (in terms of the aspects of his game scouts consider he needs to work on most in order to thrive at the NHL level)?

 

[ThatGuy22]

Honest question: what are Middelstadt´s weaknesses (in terms of the aspects of his game scouts consider he needs to work on most in order to thrive at the NHL level)?

pullups

 

[1972]

Honest question: what are Middelstadt´s weaknesses (in terms of the aspects of his game scouts consider he needs to work on most in order to thrive at the NHL level)?

What I’ve noticed is that he could be alittle better along the boards and really that should come as he gets stronger. He’s pretty much a Swiss Army knife who doesn’t really have a glaring weakness like many other prospects.

 

[Boxscore]

Honest question: what are Middelstadt´s weaknesses (in terms of the aspects of his game scouts consider he needs to work on most in order to thrive at the NHL level)?

For starters, Mittelstadt was my FAVORITE forward in the 2017 draft. I like(d) him more than Hischier, Patrick, etc. Style-wise, I think he will end up a blend of Nicklas Backstrom & Patrick Kane at the NHL level and has 80-85 point potential in his prime IMO. So, perhaps I'm a little biased, but I think he is the exact "type" of player the NHL is moving towards. And, no, I'm not a "Sabres fan."

So, in terms of weaknesses, this is my take...

1. Physical strength. Forget pull-ups, but he should improve his lower body strength so he can protect the puck in the NHL like Backstrom does (he tends to hover and glide with the puck along the boards and marks like Nicklas does). He is also a decent-sized kid, so he won't be able to hide as much as Kane, who is tiny.

2. Confidence. At every level so far, he has been able to DOMINATE his peers. I've seen him beat 3 players on the same play - literally making them look foolish. He won't be able to do that as regularly (if at all) at the NHL level and he'll have to make sure he doesn't get discouraged when he doesn't. A lot of that will fall on the shoulders of his coaches though. I observed that with a young Erik Karlsson in Ottawa - he would take risks, make mistakes, and his coaches let him learn from them, instead of punishing him. That is one of the main reasons Karlsson is the player he is today - I firmly believe that - that he was able to learn from his mistakes without being broken down by coaches and management.

3. His defensive responsibilities. In order for him to get the TOI he'll need to be an offensive force, he'll most likely have to prove that he is at least "decent" in his own end or committed to the team plan. If he can do this, he'll be a very special NHLer, since his skill level will be world class.

 

[Team Cozens]

Honest question: what are Middelstadt´s weaknesses (in terms of the aspects of his game scouts consider he needs to work on most in order to thrive at the NHL level)?

He might be too fast for his line mates.


He will need to keep his head up. Loves to dangle and will get his head knocked off
against NHL players.

 

[Keep Sorokin Me Babe]

Buffalo selecting this kid makes up for the Reinhart and A.Nylander draft blunders, what a clutch goal

 

[Nuckles]

 

[Bannermanjim]

Nsfw

 

[Team Cozens]

Kid is going to be special.

 

[canuck2010]

Kid is going to be special.

Not if he doesn't keep his head up. Keep your head up son!

 

[Breakers]

Honest question: what are Middelstadt´s weaknesses (in terms of the aspects of his game scouts consider he needs to work on most in order to thrive at the NHL level)?

I mostly watch college hockey, and have seen him 5X this year for the gophers.

He needs to work and driving the net, and getting shots in close which is where he is very good.
That is going to come with time as he figures out the college game as it is WAY MORE physical than Junior hockey.

Also he gets caught dangling a bit too much some times.

His 2 way game is solid.
He is probably one of the best prospects off the rush, he gains the zone with control effortlessly

 

[Yatzhee]

This young man is definitely an elite talent. From what I've seen so far.

Middlesteadt and Eichel, yea, that 1st scoring line in Buffalo is going to be exciting.

 

[Team Cozens]

This young man is definitely an elite talent. From what I've seen so far.

Middlesteadt and Eichel, yea, that 1st scoring line in Buffalo is going to be exciting.

I expect Casey to slot in at #2 Center, he plays a complete 200 foot game and drives the play. Good times are coming soon.

Eichel
Mittelstadt
ROR
Reinhardt
Asplund
Pu

Sabres Center depth is crazy good.
Would not be surprised with a Reinhard trade.

 

[tsujimoto74]

I mostly watch college hockey, and have seen him 5X this year for the gophers.

He needs to work and driving the net, and getting shots in close which is where he is very good.
That is going to come with time as he figures out the college game as it is WAY MORE physical than Junior hockey.

Also he gets caught dangling a bit too much some times.

His 2 way game is solid.
He is probably one of the best prospects off the rush, he gains the zone with control effortlessly

One of my favorite things about him as a prospect. Lots of kids with his talent just thrive on their offense at lower levels and need to be coached into putting in the effort in other areas of the game as they go pro. Not this kid. Mittelstadt works all over the ice. I'm sure he has plenty to learn, but the drive and the compete is there.

 

[Critical13]

I expect Casey to slot in at #2 Center, he plays a complete 200 foot game and drives the play. Good times are coming soon.

Eichel
Mittelstadt
ROR
Reinhardt
Asplund
Pu

Sabres Center depth is crazy good.
Would not be surprised with a Reinhard trade.

If W Nylander moves to C, there could be some really entertaining matchups in the next 3-5 years...

Eichel vs Kadri
Mittelstadt vs Nylander
Matthews vs ROR

Those are 2 very strong C groups.

 

[MatthewFlames]

My feeling is that he also lacks consistency and his game can be very 'junior' hockey. There are a lot of things he does that he won't get away with in the NHL, like driving through the middle of the ice with the puck when there are 2 or 3 defenders. A player like Mat Barzal is pretty tricky and keeps his puck handling to the lanes and the outside, when he's between the hashmarks he dishes or shoots pretty quickly, something CM will have to learn. Other than his great goal last night vs Slovaks, where was he the rest of the game? I don't know that he's a natural C, a move back to the wing might help. Still, not many players have his talent level, and I think being in the NCAA is the best place for him to continue to hone his craft.

 

[stokes84]

My feeling is that he also lacks consistency and his game can be very 'junior' hockey. There are a lot of things he does that he won't get away with in the NHL, like driving through the middle of the ice with the puck when there are 2 or 3 defenders. A player like Mat Barzal is pretty tricky and keeps his puck handling to the lanes and the outside, when he's between the hashmarks he dishes or shoots pretty quickly, something CM will have to learn. Other than his great goal last night vs Slovaks, where was he the rest of the game? I don't know that he's a natural C, a move back to the wing might help. Still, not many players have his talent level, and I think being in the NCAA is the best place for him to continue to hone his craft.

Ask Kailer Yamamoto, who whiffed on a number of perfect passes from Casey that should've tied/won the game. He only had a handful of shifts in the first period, but as the game went on, he was easily the most influential US player.

 

[MatthewFlames]

he was easily the most influential US player.

Yeah, Tkachuk and Poehling were far superior and more influential from the first shift to the end of the game. That line should be PP1 as well. CM should probably go onto their wing.

Ask Kailer Yamamoto, who whiffed on a number of perfect passes from Casey that should've tied/won the game.

Yeah, he was poor.

 

[Slangston]

My take from last night's game was that Mittelstadt really didn't really get the minutes to make much of an impact. Especially early on. Motzko leaned heavily on the Poehling/Tkachuk/Anderson line, and while they played well, they didn't exactly light Slovakia on fire. Casey was underutilized on that 3rd line.

 

[HandshakeLineRespect]

“I think it’s gonna be a pretty grindy, grimey goal for the next one for us so we gotta get to the net and find one”

I don’t know why I liked that comment from him so much but Mittelstadt is an f’ing beauty.

 

[Bannermanjim]

3 assists on the night. Player of the game. Great performance

 

[ponder]

He was the best player in the game by far. Extremely skilled player, Buffalo have a beauty on their hands.