It’s been an unfortunately underwhelming season for Colorado Avalanche center Casey Mittelstadt. So underwhelming that he’s been in the middle of media trade speculation for several months. The best case scenario for the team is that Mittelstadt is to not make a rash decision on his future with the team.
The reason is quite simple. Have you seen superstars have bad years? Now, I know that superstars aren’t at risk of getting traded, so there’s that big difference. However, as Mile High Sticking contributor Aaron Poorman pointed out about a month ago, the team’s front office doesn’t appear to be a regime that will just ship someone off if he’s having a bad season—particularly if that player isn’t contributing to a ton of losses.
We’re strictly talking about the ability to contribute to wins. The team has shown that they can win despite the lack of statistical contributions from Mittelstadt.
Truth be told, Mittelstadt has never put up amazing goals and assist numbers. His career-high is 15 goals and 44 assists in 82 games during the 2022-23 season. Currently, he’s on pace for nearly 13 goals and 63 assists.
I know that things start to pick up when the trade deadline is near, but truthfully, I feel as if the team would have traded Mittelstadt by now if they were going to. I don’t necessarily think that they are in panic mode right now, especially with the emergence of Mackenzie Blackwood as the starting goaltender.
Colorado Avalanche invested in Casey Mittelstadt
NHL organizations know that a player can have a bad year. For Mittelstadt, it just feels like he’s kind of on pace for what he’s usually done in years past. It’s all about knowing what you have in a player and not expecting him to turn into Wayne Gretzky. That’s an unfair comparison. If you did that, you wouldn’t have anybody playing on your roster.
The Avalanche signed Mittelstadt to a three-year extension with a cap hit of $5.75 million. I don’t think that the team would be willing to move off of him, simply because of what the return could be. If you’re someone who feels like he has had a bad year so far, it’s possible that opposing teams might feel the same way. Therefore, the return likely won’t be worth the departure.
The team is the team, and there’s no question that every single player is trying their hardest to be a better player than they were yesterday. The solution is to keep plugging away. If Mittelstadt improves his goals and assists totals, great. If not, there are certainly other ways that he can improve his game. Win faceoffs, pass with precision and accuracy, minimize mistakes.
The Avalanche put Mittelstadt on the fourth line against the Edmonton Oilers, whereas he was on the second line against Calgary. What this tells me is that they’re trying to make things work and might not have any intention of shipping him off. My gut feeling is that Mittelstadt is going to be just fine, and hopefully he will earn his way back up to the second line where he’s belonged.