Casey Mittelstadt traded for Bowen Byram

[GoPuckYourself]

Just now, Turbo44 said:

He was playing on Colorado’s 2nd pair so was in their top 4!!! Furthermore he played more minutes in the finals than any other player.

I thought he was booted off once he had the 2nd concussion but even better then!

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, ... said:

Pretty good trade. With a young roster, what better type of player to than an equally young Stanley Cup winner? The old guys just can't relate anymore.

We needed a guy who is capable and can take minutes from Dahlin. Krebs has made Mitts expendable. Mitts is going to a playoff team, ain't ya happy foe him?

The comfy, cozy room just got a little shake up - they needed that, too.

Krebs has made Mitts expendable?

Out of our 12 main forwards, the guy who ranks 12th in points makes the guy ranked #1 expendable? 

Even if he did, doesn’t that make player #11 expendable sooner than the guy who’s now #2?

Can’t wrap my head around this 

Edited March 6 by Thorny

[IKnowPhysics]

It should be noted that Byram's D partner during his dominant 2022 cup-winning playoffs was Erik Johnson.

[GoPuckYourself]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

Krebs has made Mitts expendable?

I think it's more Östlund/Kulich made Middlestadt expendable... 1 of those 2 (My guess is Östlund who looks like a solid 2 way C).

[Thorner]

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

It is ABSURD to say KA didn’t have a choice. Absurd. By the prism of his own strategies? Sure: but those strategies are in and of themselves a choice. He was an *RFA*. If we had interest in prioritizing RESULTS next year, the decision was clear

even our hockey trades aren’t hockey trades, they are a willing shift towards prioritizing the future. Again. Never about the now: we just refuse. 

@Hank what’s the X for here? The bit about KA having a choice, or the bit about our trades prioritizing the future?

3 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

I think it's more Östlund/Kulich made Middlestadt expendable... 1 of those 2 (My guess is Östlund who looks like a solid 2 way C).

So it’s not the guy ranked #12, it’s the guys who might rank, at all, in a few years, that make our current best producer “expendable”

got it

[Buffalonill]

31 minutes ago, Marvin said:

So now we are targeting 14 years and counting.

Hey, at least we're consistently bad Every year

 

[GoPuckYourself]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

@Hank what’s the X for here? The bit about KA having a choice, or the bit about our trades prioritizing the future?

So it’s not the guy ranked #12, it’s the guys who might rank, at all, in a few years, that make our current best producer “expendable”

got it

We just drafted 3 centers 2 seasons ago in Savoie, Kulich and Östlund. Someone is going to take over that spot and they obviously didn't want to pay Middlestadt to do it so yes I believe that's correct.

[Buffalonill]

6 minutes ago, IKnowPhysics said:

It should be noted that Byram's D partner during his dominant 2022 cup-winning playoffs was Erik Johnson.

Probably means we're keeping him then Adam's loves selling that  culture ***** Everybody loves it here Blah blah

[Weave]

15 minutes ago, LTS said:

Green agree button if in the past you mocked Mitts for not being able to do a pull-up or how useless he was and are now in this thread dumping on this trade.

I'm curious how many will self-identify.

The purpose is only to demonstrate that what we think in one moment may be completely turned around in the future.  Deep breaths.

What about, wrote him off early, bagged on him for not meeting the hype, accepted that he’s evolved into a good middle 6 player, but is agnostic about this trade?  What button is that?

[Buffalonill]

Just now, GoPuckYourself said:

We just drafted 3 centers 2 seasons ago in Savoie, Kulich and Östlund. Someone is going to take over that spot and they obviously didn't want to pay Middlestadt to do it so yes I believe that's correct.

All of those guys are likely to be wingers, besides, the last one you listed 

And he's projected to be a third line center

 

[mjd1001]

I'm all for this trade, but something to consider, Experience on defense seems to have gotten VERY important the last few years in the NHL:

 

Top 5 teams in the league this year right now, age of their top 4 D-mean they rely on:

-Florida  (29, 27, 28, 32).....ave: 29, youngest 27

-Vancouver (24, 26, 34, 35)...ave 29.75, youngest 24

-Boston (26, 30, 27, 30)....ave 28.25, youngest 26

-Winnipeg (28, 30, 28, 33)....ave 29.75, youngest 28

-NY Rangers (26, 24, 30, 28)...ave 27, youngest 24

And Vegas as the cup winner last year (34, 28, 33, 36)....ave 32.75, youngest 28

 

Now for Buffalo...with Byram, Dahlin, Power, and Samuelsson: (23, 21, 23, 22)....ave 22.25.  OLDEST 23

Buffalo's OLDEST D-man is younger than the youngest on the top 5 teams this year, and of course the AVERAGE age of Buffalo's new top 5 is less than the single youngest guy on any of the teams above.

This D-group has the potential to be Elite, one of the best the NHL has seen in years...BUT if that does happen, its likely to need a few YEARS to get to that point.

Edited March 6 by mjd1001

[GoPuckYourself]

Just now, Buffalonill said:

All of those guys are likely to be wingers, besides, the last one you listed 

And he's projected to be a third line center

 

Right, which is what Casey Middlestadt was correct?

[Thorner]

3 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

I'm all for this trade, but something to consider, Experience on defense seems to have gotten VERY important the last few years in the NHL:

 

Top 5 teams in the league this year right now, age of their top 4 D-mean they rely on:

-Florida  (29, 27, 28, 32).....ave: 29, youngest 27

-Vancouver (24, 26, 34, 35)...ave 29.75, youngest 24

-Boston (26, 30, 27, 30)....ave 28.25, youngest 26

-Winnipeg (28, 30, 28, 33)....ave 29.75, youngest 28

-NY Rangers (26, 24, 30, 28)...ave 27, youngest 24

And Vegas as the cup winner last year (34, 28, 33, 36)....ave 32.75, youngest 28

 

Now for Buffalo...with Byram, Dahlin, Power, and Samuelsson: (23, 21, 23, 22)....ave 22.25.  OLDEST 23

Buffalo's OLDEST D-man is younger than the youngest on the top 5 teams this year, and of course the AVERAGE age of Buffalo's new top 5 is less than the single youngest guy on any of the teams above.

This D-group has the potential to be Elite, one of the best the NHL has seen in years...BUT if that does happen, its likely to need a few YEARS to get to that point.

Great post 

my leaning here is it’s more about the long term where this deal is concerned f

Edited March 6 by Thorny

[Weave]

1 minute ago, mjd1001 said:

I'm all for this trade, but something to consider, Experience on defense seems to have gotten VERY important the last few years in the NHL:

 

Top 5 teams in the league this year right now, age of their top 4 D-mean they rely on:

-Florida  (29, 27, 28, 32).....ave: 29, youngest 27

-Vancouver (24, 26, 34, 35)...ave 29.75, youngest 24

-Boston (26, 30, 27, 30)....ave 28.25, youngest 26

-Winnipeg (28, 30, 28, 33)....ave 29.75, youngest 28

-NY Rangers (26, 24, 30, 28)...ave 27, youngest 24

And Vegas as the cup winner last year (34, 28, 33, 36)....ave 32.75, youngest 28

 

Now for Buffalo...with Byram, Dahlin, Power, and Samuelsson: (23, 21, 23, 22)....ave 22.25.  OLDEST 23

Buffalo's OLDEST D-man is younger than the youngest on the top 5 teams this year, and of course the AVERAGE age of Buffalo's new top 5 is less than the single youngest guy on any of the teams above.

Sabres are gonna be AWESOME in 2030.

[K-9]

12 minutes ago, seer775 said:

I'd take Crosby after 6 concussions at age 40 over Byram at 22 with zero.

 

Your comparison is nonsensical.

And your “worry” about Byram’s concussion history is complete and utter bullcrap. 

[Buffalonill]

1 minute ago, GoPuckYourself said:

Right, which is what Casey Middlestadt was correct?

I believe He was projected to be a second line center. And after his world junior he was labeled the number one prospect in the world I believe

 

Edited March 6 by Buffalonill

[Thorner]

Just now, GoPuckYourself said:

Right, which is what Casey Middlestadt was correct?

“In another, more accurate, way: Barney is the winner”

Just now, Buffalonill said:

I believe you is projected to be a second line center. And after his world junior he was labeled the number one prospect in the world I believe

 

Casey was our 1C currently 

[Flashsabre]

 

[GoPuckYourself]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

“In another, more accurate, way: Barney is the winner”

2 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

I believe He was projected to be a second line center. And after his world junior he was labeled the number one prospect in the world I believe

 

No I mean Middlestadt, he was our 3rd line C right? 

[JoeSchmoe]

1 minute ago, Flashsabre said:

 

Sucks that we have fans willing to focus on a tiny sample size of data for two years ago to justify the trade.

Sucks worse that our GM is seemingly doing the same. 🫣

[Thorner]

12 minutes ago, Thorny said:

@Hank what’s the X for here? The bit about KA having a choice, or the bit about our trades prioritizing the future?

So it’s not the guy ranked #12, it’s the guys who might rank, at all, in a few years, that make our current best producer “expendable”

got it

@Hankim sort of searching for arguments here detailing why Byram will improve our team for next season relative to Casey, to make me feel better, so if you’ve got one, I’d in seriousness love to hear it 

5 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

No I mean Middlestadt, he was our 3rd line C right? 

No, he’s our 1C right now 

Edit: was 

[LGR4GM]

@Hank

[Rasmus_]

1 hour ago, msw2112 said:

For those who wanted Adams to make a high-profile move, you got your wish.

I'm not a big fan of trade, given that Bynum's skillset seems to be similar to what the team already has.  Dahlin and Power are both talented "puck moving" defensemen, and Ryan Johnson and Jokihairu also skate well with the puck.  The team really needs a physical presence on the blue line.  Clifton plays physical, but is small and not highly skilled.

On the offensive side, Mittlestadt has been one of the team's few forwards who was strong along the boards and gave maximum effort all the time, while also displaying a high level of skill.  Do any of the many young forwards in the pipeline play that style?  I know there's skill, but is there the grit and determination along the boards, which this team sorely needs?  I can only think that Mittlestadt's representation were in discussions with Adams about an extension and they were not seeing eye-to-eye.  Rather than having a disgruntled player and bad PR, Adams made a move. 

If Bynum can stay healthy, the value is there.  He's a high draft pick with NHL experience, has shown high-end ability, and is still young.  I just don't see it as a fit for the Sabres' needs.

You realize, it's Byram, right? 

[msw2112]

12 minutes ago, Rasmus_ said:

You realize, it's Byram, right? 

I do now.  And obviously I didn't earlier, or I wouldn't have spelled it the way I did in my post - TWICE!  Thanks to the Edit button, it has been fixed, but my error will live in infamy in your quoted post.  I must have been subliminally thinking about former Buffalo Bills running back Carl Byrum: - https://www.nfl.com/players/carl-byrum/ 

I also spelled Jokiharju wrong and that has been fixed too.

I guess I need to be more focused on the details rather than trying to follow and comment on all the crazy Bills and Sabres news all day while trying to work!

Edited March 7 by msw2112

[Thorner]

Bo Burnham

Bob Burnquist

Andrew Bynum

Bo Byram