Casey Mittelstadt traded for Bowen Byram

[Ctaeth]

I'm not a fan of the trade.  I don't think they got appropriate value for a player that is currently playing extremely well at a premium position, is young, and still has rfa years.  

KA has repeatedly said he "isn't shopping" Mitts.. as recently as that interview with Fairburn in the Atlantic (it was the day of the game vs. VGK).  KA, for the most part, seems like a pretty straight shooter.  I don't recall him ever misleading the media intentionally.  If he had an offer from the Avalanche that he was willing to accept, he absolutely should have been shopping Mitts to find out if that is the best deal he could get for him.  If he did "shop" Mitts in the meantime to all the other teams, he really should be waiting until closer to the trade deadline to let other teams try to outbid the Avs or for the Avs to feel the heat and offer more.  IMO, either way you look at it.. he kind of screwed the pooch.  

side note:  screwed the pooch is an odd phrase, never really thought about that one in a literal sense.    

[Demoted]

Sabres school em up and farm em out to other teams.

[nfreeman]

Just now, Ctaeth said:

I'm not a fan of the trade.  I don't think they got appropriate value for a player that is currently playing extremely well at a premium position, is young, and still has rfa years.  

KA has repeatedly said he "isn't shopping" Mitts.. as recently as that interview with Fairburn in the Atlantic (it was the day of the game vs. VGK).  KA, for the most part, seems like a pretty straight shooter.  I don't recall him ever misleading the media intentionally.  If he had an offer from the Avalanche that he was willing to accept, he absolutely should have been shopping Mitts to find out if that is the best deal he could get for him.  If he did "shop" Mitts in the meantime to all the other teams, he really should be waiting until closer to the trade deadline to let other teams try to outbid the Avs or for the Avs to feel the heat and offer more.  IMO, either way you look at it.. he kind of screwed the pooch.  

side note:  screwed the pooch is an odd phrase, never really thought about that one in a literal sense.    

I am highly skeptical that KA could've gotten more for Mitts than Byram.  Frankly, I'm pretty surprised he got that much.

[French Collection]

8 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

5 players from the Canadian 2020 U20 team.  Didn’t they lose to the US?  Cozens, Krebs, Quinn, Byram and Levi.

Maybe they’ll have better luck in the NHL.  Ryan Johnson was on the US squad.

Cozens and Byram were the only two on 2020 team. Krebs, Quinn and Levi played in 2021 with them.

[SabresBillsFan]

If I’m Adams, I’m moving every ufa. As far as that trade I don’t know if I move Casey for Bowen. Buffalo needed a veteran defenseman who could help Power become a man. 

[oddoublee]

6 hours ago, oddoublee said:

all for the positive take - it is not all gloom and doom. cozens and tage are good - although i am not as high on cozens at center - not higher than casey at center at the very least. 

in a nutshell, that is where we differ. I think Casey is our 2 C - and with him we are still a C short. 

Now if we take away the C's and the W's in this argument (as mitts and cozens can play both at a top 6 level) - we are still short a legit top 6 player. 

At D, feel our biggest problem (pre Byram even) was their age. Very young - and always thought it would mature into a good group in a couple years. Personally feel our top 6 and depth in Rochester/Juniors is overrated, and is now weaker. 

Legit Top 6 - Tage, Cozens, Tuch, Peterka and possibly JJ (candidly, we do not know yet with him, it is a guess). Skinner is a 3rd line winger on a good team - getting more than 15 minutes, if, and only if your team is losing going into the 3rd period. Greenway is bottom 6. Krebs is bottom 6. Benson is bottom 6, with top 6 potential in a couple years - we are thinner than people think at Forward. 

Feel free to offer your take Hank. More than willing to debate

[thewookie1]

The worst part about this trade is we won't get the opportunity to sign Mitts so he can regress aggressively like everything else that happens here.

[Sabres73]

12 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

5 players from the Canadian 2020 U20 team.  Didn’t they lose to the US?  Cozens, Krebs, Quinn, Byram and Levi.

Maybe they’ll have better luck in the NHL.  Ryan Johnson was on the US squad.

Canada beat Russia to win the gold medal at the 2020 Juniors. The US was 2-4 in the regular round and didn't make the medal round. Sweden beat Finland for the bronze.

[oddoublee]

15 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

Like most GMs, I think KA is more inclined to trade guys he inherited (like Mitts) than guys he chose -- but would they really reduce their limited supply of RHD?  It's an interesting question.

Now if they wanted to trade a RHD -- Power, Savoie and a #1 for Tkachuk?

In any case I would love another big move, although I fear it won't matter until a new coach is brought in.

This thought crossed my mind as well...

[thewookie1]

17 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

Like most GMs, I think KA is more inclined to trade guys he inherited (like Mitts) than guys he chose -- but would they really reduce their limited supply of RHD?  It's an interesting question.

Now if they wanted to trade a RHD -- Power, Savoie and a #1 for Tkachuk?

In any case I would love another big move, although I fear it won't matter until a new coach is brought in.

nah, I ain't trading Power or Dahlin

[_Q_]

13 minutes ago, Ctaeth said:

side note:  screwed the pooch is an odd phrase, never really thought about that one in a literal sense.    

That's the thing.  You aren't supposed to.

[Buffalonill]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

 

[French Collection]

My two cents.

I liked Mitts but I think that Thompson and Cozens are 1&2 C going forward. KA would have to pay all 3 C’s $7M each, which probably wouldn’t work.

I have always liked Byram, he is definitely a top 4 guy, just the wrong hand. I think KA makes another move or two here so this is not how the D line up in October.

I see this as a sell high on Mitts, he is pretty much at his max production in Buffalo. I like his chances to go deep into the playoffs and will watch closely. The Avs really need a 2C and he could find a nice spot there. Once the Sabres are eliminated, the Avs are who I will pull for.

One of the LHD might get flipped or one of these guys becomes permanent on the right side.

As others have said, the dressing room gets a wake up call, which I like. 
I hope the next moves are for a gritty forward or two.

 

[Brawndo]

 

[WhenWillItEnd66]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

He should just retire and refuse to come to this shithole of a franchise. 

[Sabres73]

Just now, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

He should just retire and refuse to come to this shithole of a franchise. 

Why don't you beat it then? No, I don't like people talking about our franchise like this on our Sabres message board.

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

I cannot stand Krebs lol I’m sorry. Like I won’t lie and pretend like i think he’s a bad player because im hiding a bias. I’m putting it out there, outright. I am not a reliable narrator for analysis of his on ice play haha 

[Brawndo]

30 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

Like most GMs, I think KA is more inclined to trade guys he inherited (like Mitts) than guys he chose -- but would they really reduce their limited supply of RHD?  It's an interesting question.

Now if they wanted to trade a RHD -- Power, Savoie and a #1 for Tkachuk?

In any case I would love another big move, although I fear it won't matter until a new coach is brought in.

I would move Samuelsson first 

 

 

[WhenWillItEnd66]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

I cannot stand Krebs lol I’m sorry. Like I won’t lie and pretend like i think he’s a bad player because im hiding a bias. I’m putting it out there, outright. I am not a reliable narrator for analysis of his on ice play haha 

It is not good...

[thewookie1]

Just now, Thorny said:

I cannot stand Krebs lol I’m sorry. Like I won’t lie and pretend like i think he’s a bad player because im hiding a bias. I’m putting it out there, outright. I am not a reliable narrator for analysis of his on ice play haha 

I'm honestly kinda curious as to why exactly; he annoys me at times but I've never had immense feelings good or bad with him.

[Scottysabres]

5 minutes ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

He should just retire and refuse to come to this shithole of a franchise. 

I believe he'll actually thrive here. Since Don isn't going anywhere and a development coach could help this kid regain his 4th over all stature, at least, I'm counting it.

It also is a bonus he's besties with Cozens and good friends with Krebs, who I also don't see going anywhere. Let's see how this plays out.

[Brawndo]

 

[Brad_MI]

I don’t know if I saw this view in the pages above, but I wonder if this was a result of the failed Free Agent Defenseman signings the past two years. 
 

I could see a scenario where Adams was wanting to fix the Top 4 D (or, the Top 6) and didn’t want to try to rely on another Free Agent that you’re hoping slides into 4D role, but fails (Lybushkin, Clifton, and maybe kind of E Johnson - obviously debatable, but none of them were brought in to sit in the press box). 
 

This way, the D is solidified to some combination of Dahlin, Power, Byram, Samuelson, and two of Jokiharu, R Johnson, or Clifton. Even in some off years, there’s at least 4, and probably 5-6, legitimately good NHL Defenseman in there. 
 

Like others mentioned, my guess is that it also included some motivation that Mittlestadt wasn’t going to be paid likely market rate by the Sabres, wasn’t going to take a discount, and we weren’t going to pay our three centers all in the range of $7M per year. 

It hurts our Forward core currently, for sure. You don’t trade away your leading scorer in the current season and get better instantly. I am hopeful though that this means we’re either;

a) Confident in Kulich or Rosen

or

b) Looking at other Forward options in trade or free agency, where maybe Adams was more confident in being successful than the recent Defense Free Agent failures

 

I’d really like to see Adams use some draft capitol or prospects to get another Top 6 Forward in the off-season, and maybe sign 1-2 other depth Forwards. That, along with re-signing Lukkonnen, would make me feel better about Mittlestadt trade. 
 

If Adams does nothing else to improve the Forward ranks, this will feel pretty disappointing. 

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, thewookie1 said:

I'm honestly kinda curious as to why exactly; he annoys me at times but I've never had immense feelings good or bad with him.

[Buffalo Super Fan]

3 minutes ago, French Collection said:

My two cents.

I liked Mitts but I think that Thompson and Cozens are 1&2 C going forward. KA would have to pay all 3 C’s $7M each, which probably wouldn’t work.

I have always liked Byram, he is definitely a top 4 guy, just the wrong hand. I think KA makes another move or two here so this is not how the D line up in October.

I see this as a sell high on Mitts, he is pretty much at his max production in Buffalo. I like his chances to go deep into the playoffs and will watch closely. The Avs really need a 2C and he could find a nice spot there. Once the Sabres are eliminated, the Avs are who I will pull for.

One of the LHD might get flipped or one of these guys becomes permanent on the right side.

As others have said, the dressing room gets a wake up call, which I like. 
I hope the next moves are for a gritty forward or two.

 

I agree with you on Tage Thompson but another Sabres center will take Dylan Cozens place at some point because he isn’t skilled enough to be a number two center. Dylan Cozens on a good team is a 3rd or 4th line checking center if he decides to play every game instead of floating. The Bowen Byram trade would be good if the defensemen the Sabres got back didn’t have 3 concussions and he is 22 years old. I think it comes down to do you have trust in the Buffalo Sabres management or the Colorado Avalanche management? I don’t trust the Sabres management the Avalanche wouldn’t trade Byram if they felt ok with his concussions. The Avalanche know Byram is one good hit away from his career being over in the NHL. The sad thing is Byram is coming to a very physical Eastern Conference style of hockey where he going to be hit by teams like the Boston Bruins. The Bruins are going to test him right away that is what concerns me with the Bowen Byram trade. It’s unfortunate but some players there heads aren’t able to take contact while other players can take contact and be fine it’s the great mystery of a persons brain in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo