Confirmed with Link: Casey Mittelstadt traded to COL for D Bo Byram. Straight up.

[joshjull]

Meanwhile all the Sabres were awakened from their afternoon nap to find out about the trade

I mean, those afternoon naps are a staple with every team.

 

[Alienblood]

Avs fan here. I'm so damn happy for you guys. Byram is a god damn stud who was wildly unappreciated and misused in Colorado.

On the top line, on the left side, with a capable D partner, getting PP1 time - Byram is going to turn into a top 10-15 defenseman in the NHL within a year or two.

FWIW, I think Mittelstadt works well in Colorado and the Avs still lose this trade. Byram is going to be elite, and the Avs sold low on him.

I guess I'm a part time Sabers fan now, Byram is easily my favorite player.

well said he's my favorite player too

 

[zuikan]

My only consolation to their trading my favorite player is getting to watch him in the playoffs, and with elite people around him.

 

[stealth1]

Maybe, maybe not.

It all depends on what moves Adams makes between now and mid-August.

If he is serious about being more open to moving prospects to get immediate NHL roster help, then I think there are answers on the blueline and at forward that could get added before next season starts.

The upside to this season being a complete tire fire is that it might just wake Adams up to the fact that he needs to be more proactive than patient this offseason.

But, only time will tell if he can actually make deals that fill the holes that the roster has to make this is a playoff team in 2024-25.

I would love to see that happen. I have my doubts and it has nothing to do with Adams. I don't believe they purposely sign guys like Clifton and EJ. iMO it's the best they can get cause players don't want to come here.

A lot of top guys that would help this team have No Trade Clauses and I guarantee that Buffalo is tops on that list.

Due to all of that, it's why they don't want to move prospects cause that's how this team will have to built. Winnipeg for the most part have had to do the same thing.

 

[Ace]

I can buy that he planned to re-sign Mittelstadt until Byram became available. Then he was holding a piece that could land him something he thought was harder to get. I can buy he wasn’t actively shopping Mitts. That he just happened to have a piece he needed for something he wanted more.

But this has to come in concert with a major forward addition this offseason. Has to. A guy who can be your best forward many nights. That level. Because Casey was that a lot. You can’t trust a lot of the forwards that are here. No consistency.

What drives me crazy is when he talks about looking for a guy for two years. There was no shorter term option you could have brought in? No plan B? What if he never became available? Were we just going to leave the hole forever because trades are hard? Makes you worry about the hole created to fill it.

 

[Gras]

Mitts still at 0 points, so we are winning the trade so far.

 

[BG82]

High probability Bowen Byram will be the more valuable asset going forward. I get the frustration of the trade combined with the frustration of the season but let's not be near sighted here..

We have Dahlin, Power, Byram and Samuelsson long term as a worst case scenario. We have a blue chip trade asset heading into the summer with a large market. How many contenders and pretenders will pay for a NHL ready Bowen Byram come off season?

Very high probability we get the best out of this trade even if it's not Bowen Byram come summer time

 

[glennkid]

x.com

x.com

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

x.com

x.com

Country club life is over, time to take winning seriously. Must be nice.

 

[toddkaz]

I can buy that he planned to re-sign Mittelstadt until Byram became available. Then he was holding a piece that could land him something he thought was harder to get. I can buy he wasn’t actively shopping Mitts. That he just happened to have a piece he needed for something he wanted more.

But this has to come in concert with a major forward addition this offseason. Has to. A guy who can be your best forward many nights. That level. Because Casey was that a lot. You can’t trust a lot of the forwards that are here. No consistency.

What drives me crazy is when he talks about looking for a guy for two years. There was no shorter term option you could have brought in? No plan B? What if he never became available? Were we just going to leave the hole forever because trades are hard? Makes you worry about the hole created to fill it.

I wouldn't buy that. Mittelstadt's agent said they never even talked until a few weeks ago.

I previously posted the article where his agent said they didn't talk. I will repost it this post if I can find it again.

What is crazy is Adams said he took weeks of preparing for the trade deadline. All this guy does is prepare. He will prepare for July 1st and then say we were priced out of the market. Same song and dance routine for 4 years.

 

[BuffaloGooner]

I can buy that he planned to re-sign Mittelstadt until Byram became available. Then he was holding a piece that could land him something he thought was harder to get. I can buy he wasn’t actively shopping Mitts. That he just happened to have a piece he needed for something he wanted more.

But this has to come in concert with a major forward addition this offseason. Has to. A guy who can be your best forward many nights. That level. Because Casey was that a lot. You can’t trust a lot of the forwards that are here. No consistency.

What drives me crazy is when he talks about looking for a guy for two years. There was no shorter term option you could have brought in? No plan B? What if he never became available? Were we just going to leave the hole forever because trades are hard? Makes you worry about the hole created to fill it.

Honestly dude I’d take a POS that can take tough matchups. Doesn’t have to be a big shot forward, just get a matchup guy. Something we haven’t had in years.

 

[MOGlLNY]

I mean, those afternoon naps are a staple with every team.

Literally every hockey player ever

I can buy that he planned to re-sign Mittelstadt until Byram became available. Then he was holding a piece that could land him something he thought was harder to get. I can buy he wasn’t actively shopping Mitts. That he just happened to have a piece he needed for something he wanted more.

But this has to come in concert with a major forward addition this offseason. Has to. A guy who can be your best forward many nights. That level. Because Casey was that a lot. You can’t trust a lot of the forwards that are here. No consistency.

What drives me crazy is when he talks about looking for a guy for two years. There was no shorter term option you could have brought in? No plan B? What if he never became available? Were we just going to leave the hole forever because trades are hard? Makes you worry about the hole created to fill it.

Yep. This needs to be the precursor to something bigger. Ok you got the defenseman you said you’ve been looking for, now time to use your cupboard of prospects to go acquire some forwards that are a pain in the ass to win against every night.

 

[old kummelweck]

Doesn't seem to make our practices seem worth it.

Not when you have Matt 'the dad bod' Ellis running them.

 

[old kummelweck]

I wouldn't buy that. Mittelstadt's agent said they never even talked until a few weeks ago.

I previously posted the article where his agent said they didn't talk. I will repost it this post if I can find it again.

What is crazy is Adams said he took weeks of preparing for the trade deadline. All this guy does is prepare. He will prepare for July 1st and then say we were priced out of the market. Same song and dance routine for 4 years.

I have no issue with Adams waiting on Middlestadt. He took a long time to develop and needed a bridge deal and a contract year to put it all together. I am sure they were open to signing him at the right price, but not as a top 6 center and they were waiting until the summer to see what they wanted to do.

Adams is somewhat transparent on what he tries to do. He's been wanting to upgrade the top 6 since last trade deadline, and honestly, when you don't have a McKinnon as your top center, you don't have the luxury of Middlestadt as your 2C.

I see his perspective, though I was still taken off guard with the trade. I am warming up a little to it now the shock is over. It illustrates that he's actually going to try and shake up the roster. He made a hockey trade when you generally don't see them. That took some skill.

 

[Ace]

If Mittelstadt had one RFA year left and they hadn’t talked I’d believe he was never staying. But he had two. They could have kicked the can down the road another year. Getting him under a long term deal wasn’t actually something they had to do this year. It feels like everyone in the hockey media tried to make it sound like they did…but it wasn’t true. They had a lot of options. None of them had to be chosen immediately last July 1, at this deadline or even before next season.

 

[paulmm3]

Doesn't seem to make our practices seem worth it.

This should be deeply, deeply embarrassing for our current coaching staff. Fans see the Sabres as an underperforming team that loafs it, now the player we've just traded confirms this roster's reward for a bad record is easy, light practices.

 

[Dingo44]

 

[SundherDome]

This should be deeply, deeply embarrassing for our current coaching staff. Fans see the Sabres as an underperforming team that loafs it, now the player we've just traded confirms this roster's reward for a bad record is easy, light practices.

Or it could be that he is 4500 ish feet higher than he was in Buffalo and altitude sickness is a thing

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Mitts still at 0 points, so we are winning the trade so far.

Byram also 0 points

 

[Beerz]

Byram also 0 points

Byram has 2 points

 

[truthbluth]

So, as much as I've bagged on this trade. I think getting Byram was, generally speaking, good, and it's noticeable that the Sabres have more than one player capable of deking a forechecker.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Meanwhile all the Sabres were awakened from their afternoon nap to find out about the trade

We need lindy ruff to start hitting people again

 

[Dingo44]

Byram has 2 points

Three

 

[Beerz]

Three

I thought they took his assist today away?

 

[Matt Ress]

From a guy that was angry about the trade, Bo is warming on me. I believe we have at least one graduating forward next year and the defense looks kinda stacked now with some not so average goaltending. A little more grit in the lineup and we might make some noise.