25-year-old center scored a career-high 18 goals for Buffalo and the Avalanche
On the day after one former Buffalo Sabres forward traded at the deadline hoisted the Stanley Cup, another player dealt by the club in March signed a multi-year contract extension. The Colorado Avalanche announced on Tuesday that they signed center Casey Mittelstadt to a three-year, $17.25 million contract ($5.75 million AAV).
Mittelstadt (who was swapped for defenseman Bowen Byram on March 6) had 57 points (18 goals, 39 assists) in 80 games with the Sabres and Avs in the final year of a three-year, $7.5 million bridge deal, and added nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in 11 playoff games.
The 25-year-old center was a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer and the Sabres likely dealt him because they already had centers Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens locked up on long-term deals. Mittelstadt (who was Buffalo’s leading scorer at the time of the trade) would have either wanted a lengthy extension or a one-year deal that walked him to unrestricted free agency next summer.
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The three-year deal buys Colorado two unrestricted years of Mittelstadt's prime years, where he nicely fits as a second-line center behind Hart Trophy nominee Nathan MacKinnon and also allows the Minnesota native the opportunity at another free agent payday at 28 years old. The Sabres have Byram signed for another season at $3.85 million and another two years before the 23-year-old blueliner qualifies for unrestricted free agency.
With both Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power signed to lengthy extensions, GM Kevyn Adams may face a similar dilemma with Byram next summer.
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