"I think a lot of people didn't expect that out of him,” Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon said of Casey Mittelstadt, who's proved to be physically involved in the playoffs.
Casey Mittelstadt has always been an exceptional playmaker. But it was his lack of physicality that had some questioning whether the first-round pick would make an impact for the Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs. He couldn't even do a single pull-up at the 2017 draft combine.
Of course, those concerns were put to rest with a goal and six points in a first-round series win against Winnipeg.
“Just watching ‘Mitzi’ how hard he competes out there — I think a lot of people didn't expect that out of him,” said Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon.
With four goals and 10 points in 18 regular-season games, Mittelstadt has fit like a glove ever since he arrived in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres in March in exchange for Bowen Byram. But it's in the playoffs where he's been filling the second-line role that Nazem Kadri played when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022.
Along with linemates Artturi Lehkonen and Zach Parise, Colorado’s sneaky-good second line has combined for eight goals and 16 points. In the process, they have dispelled the notion that the Avs are a one-line team carried by Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Valeri Nichushkin.
During 35:45 minutes of 5-on-5 play, the trio posted a 63.38 expected goals-for percentage and outscored opponents 3-1, according to naturalstattrick.com. Two of those goals were pivotal in the series.
The first came in Game 3, with the Avs up 3-2 near the halfway mark of the third period. A turnover from Mark Scheifele at the blueline led to Mittelstadt getting the puck in the neutral zone, with Lehkonen skating alongside him in transition, as the Jets panicked to backcheck. Mittelstadt drove above the right faceoff dot before slicing a pass through two defenders to Lehkonen – who scored to give the Avs a 4-2 lead.
The second came near the halfway mark of the first period in Game 4. Mittelstadt applied pressure on the forecheck to a puck-carrying Logan Stanley, forcing the 6-foot-7 defenseman to cough up the puck. Parise picked up the loose puck and fed Mittelstadt, who was below the right-wall hashmarks. Mittelstadt tucked the puck in, deked through Stanley — who attempted to deter him by pinning him along the glass — and made it around the net before feeding Lehkonen beautifully in the slot, giving the Avalanche a 1-0 lead.
“He just finds the quiet areas and it makes it easier for wingers to get it off the wall and hit him in the middle to break out,” said Parise. “He’s done that well, and in the playoffs, you’ve got to be smart with the puck, and he’s never cheating to get out of the zone. He’s always smart about it and staying underneath the puck.”
It’s the execution of those little things that can make or break a player hitting their ceiling. And for Colorado, Mittelstadt’s emergence has created a positive trickle-down effect.
With Mittelstadt on the second line, Ross Colton moved to the third line where he’s best suited, centering a checking line alongside Miles Wood and Joel Kiviranta. Deadline addition Yakov Trenin also fits on the fourth line, where fellow newcomer Brandon Duhaime and Andrew Cogliano have helped form a stingy fourth line.
Mittelstadt's emergence makes Colorado a much scarier team up front – one that looks capable of going toe-to-toe against one of the deepest forward groups in the league, the Dallas Stars, in the second round.
“For me, (he’s being) more physically involved," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said of Mittelstadt. "Stronger on pucks. More tenacious on the forecheck. His wall play has been outstanding.
"It’s all the things that lead to opportunities to score goals or break up plays defensively.”
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