Drag0nDan

Right - we desperately lacked a cohesive 2nd scoring line. There wasn't even a 2nd center capable of taking offensive zone draws at a decent clip, let alone also providing some scoring. Teams could use a shutdown line on eichel, and then almost every team was able to deploy whomever they wanted against our 2nd and 3rd lines.

Third line is where a playoff team makes their bones. Either a shutdown line that can chip in some scoring - or a young line that flies.

Cheap and somehow his salary is less... this trade legit makes no sense. I truly don't understand.

even kahun wasn't a bad move. Dumped rodrigues and sheary and got back a player with term who may be better than either.

I tend to agree. He'd need to light it up at the AHL level to move ahead of that timeline. Then again, carter hart has been pretty solid at 21 so who the hell knows anymore.

yep - and for that reason I'm open to a reinhart trade. When i say open i mean.. I'd be willing to move him for a more cost controlled player and maybe a prospect. Fit is important since depending on free agency - this player would ideally slot with eichel. I also mean - don't just trade him because we can't afford him. We can. Depends on the offer.

Everyone wanted to sign him at the time. It was taboo for me to say - I don't want a ton of term on this deal since he's 27. The contract won't age well. What i didnt think was that he was going to just crater in year 1.

Never seems to be in the right place, and thinks he can outskate everyone... which he can't. He needs a lot of work - and probably a full year in AHL.

Mitts in rochester - for the most part i approve. Only issue might be that... i think there's 2 PK forwards listed there in asplund and i guess lazar. So it likely falls to cozens and...? i'm not sure. Our PK was really bad a year ago, and a lot of that is the D sure, but there wasn't exactly a strong group of forwards killing penalties either.

Plenty of 18-19 year olds have had excellent seasons (https://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/player-age/18-year-old-nhl-forwards.html). It's an if hes ready type of thing - it isn't an end all be all. If he looks good it shouldn't be out of the question.

Right - at this point can we salvage him? If his stocks at an all time low how much value does he have? If were moving Risto/Montour + a prospect - is he more valuable than a Ruotsalainen or Johnson?

Like there was a progression in his high school stats from sophomore to senior year - but its not as if he was that much more dominant than he was as a sophomore. It really is just the tournaments where his stats look pretty great. But as much as its a jump in competition, its also a jump in improved linemates etc.

I think the concern when you look at something like this stat sheet - http://www.mynhldraft.com/2017/NHL-Draft-Profiles/Casey-Mittelstadt Just - nothing there wows me. He had a couple nice tournaments and then played alright at Minnesota. He didn't like jump off the page stat wise at minnesota either. Why did we even sign him after that season?

I'm open to anything at this point. There needs to be at least 4 forwards that are comfortable killing penalties though. If Girgs/Larsson don't both return that leaves a big gaping hole there. Asplund is probably the only potential call-up that fits in that role, maybe you could include lazar there. But if your line 3 is kahun/johansson/olofsson - any winger/2C that is brought in most likely needs to be a 2 way player. You could let cozens play center and just try and load that line. Grab wingers to fill out the rest of the roster maybe. I think we're all nervous to do that since mittelstadt failed so spectacularly, and the definition of insanity... but if you can't find a center at the very least move a dman and go after some wingers.

Its fairly dependent on what the solution is at 2C. But i don't think putting cozens on line 3 with thompson and johannson is going to be very good for literally any of them.

I don't get the vibe that he's going to just jump out and become some amazing player. As of now i'd put him behind dahlin and jokiharju as our best puck movers - and i don't knwo that i want either playing with montour so that puts him as a bottom pairing defenseman here. He's not particularly strong in his own end, and his shot isn't very good either. I guess we'll see, but i don't see us getting a ton back from trading him at this point.

Gaustad for a first... still boggles my mind to this day.

What about cozens with jack? Lets you move reinhart down to line 2 to help drive that line with whomever we get as a 2C.

Who were even the PK players on this team? Vesey i guess? Girgs and Larsson? Frolik Lazar and Asplund? The team gets no scoring out of their line 3 - and they aren't good on defense either. As for the power play... when your 2nd unit features Mittelstadt and Sheary... it's going to be tough sledding even gaining the zone.

I don't get why everyone loves the guy so much tbh. He was fine - but I don't know that winning at the AHL level has a correlation with young 19-21 year old AHL players becoming good NHL players. The only player who really graduated in his tenure was olofsson who spent several years in sweden before he came here. So he didn't exactly help a 19 year old navigate professional hockey. Nylander, Guhle, Fasching, Baptiste, Bailey - none turned into players and all have been traded. There are going to be a fair amount of new faces in the AHL this season. Perhaps it was the right time for a change for that reason, and maybe they believe this guy can help them become more effective pro's.

Yeah - even a guy with even higher expectations in bennett has become a role player in the NHL. Mitts doesn't backcheck, play defense, kill penalties or do any of the stuff you want out of a back end roster guy. His only skills translate to top 6, but he stinks. Bad on the dot, doesn't know where to be, doesn't score. Our PP unit with him on it had to be one of the worst in the league - they'd struggle to even gain the zone let alone maintain possession.

I found this pre-draft scouting report that lists his comparable as derick brassard. That's pre-draft. https://www.thehockeyprospector.com/11-casey-mittelstadt-scouting-report/ At this point I'd be super happy with Derick Brassard. I mean, he's a 2C upgrade as of today sadly enough.

Would be nice if the Mittelstadts and thompsons could step up and contribute.

His development path should've gone through AHL for this reason alone. 1 year in college, fine. But after that he should've been playing in the AHL for at least a year. He's still learning how to be a hockey player at this point and he's somehow played over 100 games with the big club.

Since when is that like a smart strategy?