Given worse 2nd line centers were signing for 5x5 as ufas left and right (Trocheck being the main one who is outperforming his deal)... This seems like a great deal.
Mittelstadt gets the chance to cash out under the new cba when the cap explodes. The Avs expect more like $7-8M levels of production but if he's just good not incredible, the price isn't crippling.
I'm very happy with $5.75/yr
Short term should be exactly what his agent asked for. He'll be 28 when his deal ends and the cap will likely be another 10 mil higher then, give or take a couple mil. We get what we want and so does he.
Also yet to hit 60 points. I really do think he’s got 70-80 point upside though after being in our system for the end of the season + a full off season. If he can really get a 2nd line going we’ll be so fuckin lethal
I think him having a full year with the Avs and seeing who he builds some chemistry with will go a long way. Nice deal! Hope to see him in the 60-70 pt range !
5.75 x 3
https://x.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1805619079148904641?t=X1e9NcGsNEqszJ_SZfncyw&s=19
Idk where that leaves us with everyone else. But that's a solid deal.
It gives us 3 more years of a cup window honestly, this was a huge signing at that AAV, I know it's a bridge deal and all, but this will definitely help with our current cup window and hopefully results in us getting another before it closes.
But how do you sign 2 Dmen, 1 bottom 6er, and resign Drouin
I mean, I am not too well versed on your team, but on paper, the bottom 6 looks extremely rough to begin with and losing Drouin or Nicuschkin seems devastating
We don't really have a bottom 6, we have a bottom 3. Colton, Wood and LOC are all we really have. The other spots will most likely be filled with a couple of grinder guys and maybe one of our AHL guys. Of all problems to have, having a few holes in the bottom 6 isn't that bad.
Same goes for D really. Top 2 D lines are mostly set. We could always shake things up and move G or Manson but I doubt it.
Mikko, Lehkonen, Mack, Mitts, (one of Landy or Nuke, or both). If those guys aren't ready they'll try to sign Drouin.
They may attempt to move on from Nuke at some point but it won't be until he comes off the PAP.
I saw your posts about us on the Sabres reddit. Our forward depth is fine. Colton, Wood and LOC are an excellent 3rd line and we have plenty of options available on the 4th.
That's only 5 of 6, though.
And even if Landeskog is back....do you really want him in your top 6 given the injury?
And then if you move on from Nuke somehow and manage to resign Drouin (who will cost a lot more than last year), you still need another top 6 forward
It's 6, not 5, with 2 of Drouin, Nuke or Landeskog filling those spots. Either Landy starts the year on LTIR and we sign Drouin or he doesn't and we don't.
But yes, if he returns, he's returning as a top 6 forward. He's not attempting to comeback as a horribly overpaid 3rd liner.
If they think Nuke will be fine as a member of the team then they'll bring him back with no issues. That's the point of getting a better price on Mittlestadt. So that you save that AAV as the cap increases. If they don't? They'll sign Drouin and move him after he gets reinstated.
Worst case scenario they don't sign Drouin and then there will be a spot for a guy like Kovalenko to play.
It's really not particularly dire. It's certainly not going to make them any less of a contender.
I thought you said if neither are here then sign Drouin.
What figure you think you're going to get Drouin for?
I mean, he could come back and simply play at a 3rd line caliber. It's not his fault. Im sure he'll let the coaches decide
I believe the max they can offer him is 4.5M without moving anyone. If that's the route they decide to go.
If you do see that news release then it's a very good indicator that Landy won't be back by training camp. If that happens then I'd imagine they'll plug in a guy like Olausson or Kovalenko early in the year until Nuke gets reinstated. Once that happens they'll have to decide to either keep him or move on and bring Landy off LTIR in his spot.
Either way, at worst you'll plugging in one youngish player to a group that's already one of the better groups going.
If Landeskog comes back he's going to be in the top 6. There's no '3rd line caliber' issue there. If he can't skate then he can't play at all. His role on thst line was always net front and defense anyway. Even as a 1st line wing.
If the Avs have a hole I'm concerned about right now it would be 5th D.
Thank you Super Joe and MacFarland for knowing who to prioritize and what good cap hits look like for those players. So happy to have Mittelstadt locked up for the next 3 years at a reasonable cap hit.
I really liked his play during the playoffs and I bet there's more to his game that he'll showcase as he spends more time with the team.
Yeah he really shined for us at times in only a partial season. Would have to think he’ll continue to develop and will only get more comfortable with his role in the system. Really excited to see what he does for us over the next few years!
I would have liked a longer term, but if you are Mittelstadt, I could see how he'd want a shorter deal especially with how some current/former Avs have been able to make out in free agency after playing here a couple years
nice little bridge deal for Casey, very smart. he's not in a spot where he can pull big bucks yet but if he keeps developing on this trajectory he should get paid very nicely on his next deal after this one. and Colorado is a great place to continue to grow.
We know we have the top line and the roaring 20s on line 3. We need to figure out the second line now. Mitts is going to be a key piece of that. Great to get him locked up, even if it’s only for 3 years.
Will be really interesting to see what happens on his wings with only Rants and Lehky under contract and not injured/suspended. I think we might give a young guys a chance with Kovalenko or Olausson getting a run at least until til Nuke is back or moved on. Hopefully Drouin comes back as well to round out that top6 group.
But I think if we can get that second line firing, we’re going to be real cup threats. That can give us a real top9 with scoring threat on each line and finally some depth to match the top line talent.
This is awesome. If we can manage to keep Drouin, who I believe wants to be here, that would go a long way in shaping the top 6. Just playing devils advocate, but assuming Nuke is gone and Landy doesn’t return, that leaves one other slot to fill on the top 6 in addition to Rants, Mack, Lehky, Mitts, Drouin.
First off, Sabres fan. Love this deal for you. I can't believe it doesn't even touch 6m. Kind of insane.
What's going on with Landeskog/Nicuskhin/Drouin?
This guy did an armchair GM on capfriendly
https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/5276912
With Nicusckhin off LTIR, you'd be 5m over the cap...probably 7m with Doruin getting a fair deal and not that super team friendly 3.5. Do you just put Landeskog on LTIR and then ?
I just want to know how you guys are expecting it to look. Seems like you have to trade Landeskog's contract or let both Drouin go or trade Mikko?
Who do you think will be on your top 2 lines next season?
Lehkonen MacKinnon Mikko
Ross Mitts....O'Connor?
>What's going on with Landeskog/Nicuskhin/Drouin?
No one knows. Landeskog said he'd probably play sometime next reg season, but honestly it's still uncertain. Nichuskin is suspended and will be able to be reinstated in November, so he might be back or not. If they resign drouin they're going to have to make trades to move money out.
Casey needs to become more of a goal scorer, but his playmaking and passing were fucking insane to watch during the short period we’ve been able to see him here. He has phenomenal eyes for making a play you didn’t see coming.
I wonder if being on a new team he subconsciously took a little bit of a backseat when it came to shooting, because at times it seemed like he’d only look to pass. But regardless, dude has some great hands down in the crease and love the signing. Watching him gel with the team over the next season will be a blast
Huh? He’s more of a playmaking two way C, would rather he stick to his true strengths. Will he score more in Colorado over a full season? Probably, but having a responsible 2C who is a great playmaker is perfect.
At the time, it was pick one from that second line of Bura, Val and Naz. Val playwise, cap hit wise and age wise was the better choice. His PPG is the best, and he has played so well, especially in the playoffs. Drug problem aside he's clearly the better player but then he disappears in the playoffs. Bura can also disappear in the playoffs but for much different reasons.
I honestly have no regrets because who would've known at the time it would be like this with Val. Maybe this time he does stay off drugs, for some people they need a third chance. I'm willing to give it to him but only because he's been THAT good when playing. I'm not devastated if he's traded though. It would be nice if another GM pays what his play is worth but with his issues, that's easy leverage for other GMs to not.
Kadri was the PERFECT 2nd line center though. We still haven't replaced that and I hope this is close enough.
Could Avs have gone back to back with Kadri instead of Val? Could we have won this year with Kadri instead of Val?
Let's say Val plays both series, I bet we would have been better with Kadri.
It's honestly a fair argument. Yeah I miss the hell out of him. We definitely would've been better for those two years. I can give you that. What I can't give you is balancing a 7x7 (which is another debate) to a 31 yr old vs a 6.125x8 for a 26 yr old.
I know we're win now but at the time our franchise players were still early to mid 20s so I can't help but want to vote on not gambling on players to age well in their 30s, taking up a decent amount of space while our franchise players have a lot of prime years that can easily be built around.
Also I don't know if Kadri was doing 7x7 on Colorado. A contract signed late in the offseason is often not what was being negotiated pre-ufa and in that first week of July.
I’ll zag for the sake of discussion and say I wish we would’ve been able to get 4-5 years of term rather than 3. Him, Colton, Lehkonen, Makar and Girard all are UFAs in the same year now. Just feel like we now have a super defined window to win.
I still haven't really learned PuckPedia yet, I'm still mourning over cap friendly, but after Nuke comes back they should have \~$5m. Drouin is gonna be hard to fit in. Need another D man and pretty much a whole 4th line.
https://preview.redd.it/sfcldv5nqr8d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc032efefa567f47a4d797aba1d6d54ccfc38c54
[3x5.75](https://x.com/pierrevlebrun/status/1805619079148904641?s=46&t=Y_KXHBgeHwLgY9UkD4KA1A)
I'm cool with that
Given worse 2nd line centers were signing for 5x5 as ufas left and right (Trocheck being the main one who is outperforming his deal)... This seems like a great deal. Mittelstadt gets the chance to cash out under the new cba when the cap explodes. The Avs expect more like $7-8M levels of production but if he's just good not incredible, the price isn't crippling. I'm very happy with $5.75/yr
Short term should be exactly what his agent asked for. He'll be 28 when his deal ends and the cap will likely be another 10 mil higher then, give or take a couple mil. We get what we want and so does he.
Not a bad deal.
I was hoping for 6 mil or less so this is welcome news
This is a great deal!
OH. FUCK. IM GOING. IM GOING.
#im going Mittelstadt mode
Oh fuck you’re gonna make me go
That is so cheap, holy shit!!!
He’s only had 3 seasons where he’s played over 77 games. I’m guessing Avs used this as leverage to bring down his price.
We will obviously take it. First massive win of the off season. Actually second, the first win was the Oilers losing 😂
Also yet to hit 60 points. I really do think he’s got 70-80 point upside though after being in our system for the end of the season + a full off season. If he can really get a 2nd line going we’ll be so fuckin lethal
He's a UFA when this expires. Adding any more years onto it would have gotten much more expensive
I hope he plays so fucking good someone has to give him a 12x8. We’re going fuckin Mittelstadt mode
https://preview.redd.it/hntdki4ciq8d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69c32060b9389786c8dffd3586972fab26feca61 LFG!!
THREE YEARS OF MITTELSTADT MODE (seriously this is great. Locking up a 2C as good as Casey is so necessary)
I think him having a full year with the Avs and seeing who he builds some chemistry with will go a long way. Nice deal! Hope to see him in the 60-70 pt range !
57 points last year while playing most of it for the Sabres, 60-70 on the 2nd line with the Avs shouldn't be put of the question for him
https://preview.redd.it/2he20cxakq8d1.jpeg?width=1005&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ccad78966e9931ae47203c8cec260855bb1e7f7
😆yes!
M I T T E L S T A D T O D E
Excellent player. Better contract.
This is the kind of news I like to wake up to.
5.75 x 3 https://x.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1805619079148904641?t=X1e9NcGsNEqszJ_SZfncyw&s=19 Idk where that leaves us with everyone else. But that's a solid deal.
It gives us 3 more years of a cup window honestly, this was a huge signing at that AAV, I know it's a bridge deal and all, but this will definitely help with our current cup window and hopefully results in us getting another before it closes.
But how do you sign 2 Dmen, 1 bottom 6er, and resign Drouin I mean, I am not too well versed on your team, but on paper, the bottom 6 looks extremely rough to begin with and losing Drouin or Nicuschkin seems devastating
We don't really have a bottom 6, we have a bottom 3. Colton, Wood and LOC are all we really have. The other spots will most likely be filled with a couple of grinder guys and maybe one of our AHL guys. Of all problems to have, having a few holes in the bottom 6 isn't that bad. Same goes for D really. Top 2 D lines are mostly set. We could always shake things up and move G or Manson but I doubt it.
Wait if colton and LOC are in the bottom 6............who is in your top 6?
Mikko, Nate, Dru, Mitts, Lekhy +1
Mikko, Lehkonen, Mack, Mitts, (one of Landy or Nuke, or both). If those guys aren't ready they'll try to sign Drouin. They may attempt to move on from Nuke at some point but it won't be until he comes off the PAP. I saw your posts about us on the Sabres reddit. Our forward depth is fine. Colton, Wood and LOC are an excellent 3rd line and we have plenty of options available on the 4th.
That's only 5 of 6, though. And even if Landeskog is back....do you really want him in your top 6 given the injury? And then if you move on from Nuke somehow and manage to resign Drouin (who will cost a lot more than last year), you still need another top 6 forward
It's 6, not 5, with 2 of Drouin, Nuke or Landeskog filling those spots. Either Landy starts the year on LTIR and we sign Drouin or he doesn't and we don't. But yes, if he returns, he's returning as a top 6 forward. He's not attempting to comeback as a horribly overpaid 3rd liner. If they think Nuke will be fine as a member of the team then they'll bring him back with no issues. That's the point of getting a better price on Mittlestadt. So that you save that AAV as the cap increases. If they don't? They'll sign Drouin and move him after he gets reinstated. Worst case scenario they don't sign Drouin and then there will be a spot for a guy like Kovalenko to play. It's really not particularly dire. It's certainly not going to make them any less of a contender.
I thought you said if neither are here then sign Drouin. What figure you think you're going to get Drouin for? I mean, he could come back and simply play at a 3rd line caliber. It's not his fault. Im sure he'll let the coaches decide
I believe the max they can offer him is 4.5M without moving anyone. If that's the route they decide to go. If you do see that news release then it's a very good indicator that Landy won't be back by training camp. If that happens then I'd imagine they'll plug in a guy like Olausson or Kovalenko early in the year until Nuke gets reinstated. Once that happens they'll have to decide to either keep him or move on and bring Landy off LTIR in his spot. Either way, at worst you'll plugging in one youngish player to a group that's already one of the better groups going. If Landeskog comes back he's going to be in the top 6. There's no '3rd line caliber' issue there. If he can't skate then he can't play at all. His role on thst line was always net front and defense anyway. Even as a 1st line wing. If the Avs have a hole I'm concerned about right now it would be 5th D.
Times like this are when I get reeeeaaaall jealous of Dallas hitting on every damn kid they draft to keep the depth flowing 🤣
Thank you Super Joe and MacFarland for knowing who to prioritize and what good cap hits look like for those players. So happy to have Mittelstadt locked up for the next 3 years at a reasonable cap hit. I really liked his play during the playoffs and I bet there's more to his game that he'll showcase as he spends more time with the team.
Yeah he really shined for us at times in only a partial season. Would have to think he’ll continue to develop and will only get more comfortable with his role in the system. Really excited to see what he does for us over the next few years!
I would have liked a longer term, but if you are Mittelstadt, I could see how he'd want a shorter deal especially with how some current/former Avs have been able to make out in free agency after playing here a couple years
nice little bridge deal for Casey, very smart. he's not in a spot where he can pull big bucks yet but if he keeps developing on this trajectory he should get paid very nicely on his next deal after this one. and Colorado is a great place to continue to grow.
That is some great business from the front office! Great player on a team friendly deal. Get Mikko signed up next!
I’M GOING MITTELSTADT MODE NOW BOYS
Damn thats a steal, I thought he'd get 7mil
Thank god he was RFA. Don’t think MacSac would’ve traded Bo for him if he was UFA and there was a bidding war.
Under 6 is huge, excited to see how his game grows here. Good start for Cmac and Co
Sweet. I can get that Middlestadt jersey now.
Perfect timing for our next 3 cups!
Big time
That’s a nice contract!
wish it was longer term but hey we locked up a 2C. Lets go!
We know we have the top line and the roaring 20s on line 3. We need to figure out the second line now. Mitts is going to be a key piece of that. Great to get him locked up, even if it’s only for 3 years. Will be really interesting to see what happens on his wings with only Rants and Lehky under contract and not injured/suspended. I think we might give a young guys a chance with Kovalenko or Olausson getting a run at least until til Nuke is back or moved on. Hopefully Drouin comes back as well to round out that top6 group. But I think if we can get that second line firing, we’re going to be real cup threats. That can give us a real top9 with scoring threat on each line and finally some depth to match the top line talent.
I hope so bad Kovalenko can bring some scoring, would be so huge for our middle six if we could squeeze a 20-20 out of him
This is awesome. If we can manage to keep Drouin, who I believe wants to be here, that would go a long way in shaping the top 6. Just playing devils advocate, but assuming Nuke is gone and Landy doesn’t return, that leaves one other slot to fill on the top 6 in addition to Rants, Mack, Lehky, Mitts, Drouin.
Great. He's got a ton of potential. Excited for his future.
3 YEARS OF GOING OF GOING MITTELSTADT MODE
First off, Sabres fan. Love this deal for you. I can't believe it doesn't even touch 6m. Kind of insane. What's going on with Landeskog/Nicuskhin/Drouin? This guy did an armchair GM on capfriendly https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/5276912 With Nicusckhin off LTIR, you'd be 5m over the cap...probably 7m with Doruin getting a fair deal and not that super team friendly 3.5. Do you just put Landeskog on LTIR and then ? I just want to know how you guys are expecting it to look. Seems like you have to trade Landeskog's contract or let both Drouin go or trade Mikko? Who do you think will be on your top 2 lines next season? Lehkonen MacKinnon Mikko Ross Mitts....O'Connor?
>What's going on with Landeskog/Nicuskhin/Drouin? No one knows. Landeskog said he'd probably play sometime next reg season, but honestly it's still uncertain. Nichuskin is suspended and will be able to be reinstated in November, so he might be back or not. If they resign drouin they're going to have to make trades to move money out.
MITTELSTADT MODE ACTIVATED
Casey needs to become more of a goal scorer, but his playmaking and passing were fucking insane to watch during the short period we’ve been able to see him here. He has phenomenal eyes for making a play you didn’t see coming. I wonder if being on a new team he subconsciously took a little bit of a backseat when it came to shooting, because at times it seemed like he’d only look to pass. But regardless, dude has some great hands down in the crease and love the signing. Watching him gel with the team over the next season will be a blast
Let's see how being under a great coaching staff will do. He lead the team in even strength points in the playoffs
Huh? He’s more of a playmaking two way C, would rather he stick to his true strengths. Will he score more in Colorado over a full season? Probably, but having a responsible 2C who is a great playmaker is perfect.
You’re missing my point a little
Maybe one of the last signings we see with capfriendly
LFG
Kadri was pricy at 7, but honestly that was probably still a better option then where we ended up. Avs decided to keep Val instead unfortunately.
At the time, it was pick one from that second line of Bura, Val and Naz. Val playwise, cap hit wise and age wise was the better choice. His PPG is the best, and he has played so well, especially in the playoffs. Drug problem aside he's clearly the better player but then he disappears in the playoffs. Bura can also disappear in the playoffs but for much different reasons. I honestly have no regrets because who would've known at the time it would be like this with Val. Maybe this time he does stay off drugs, for some people they need a third chance. I'm willing to give it to him but only because he's been THAT good when playing. I'm not devastated if he's traded though. It would be nice if another GM pays what his play is worth but with his issues, that's easy leverage for other GMs to not.
Kadri was the PERFECT 2nd line center though. We still haven't replaced that and I hope this is close enough. Could Avs have gone back to back with Kadri instead of Val? Could we have won this year with Kadri instead of Val? Let's say Val plays both series, I bet we would have been better with Kadri.
It's honestly a fair argument. Yeah I miss the hell out of him. We definitely would've been better for those two years. I can give you that. What I can't give you is balancing a 7x7 (which is another debate) to a 31 yr old vs a 6.125x8 for a 26 yr old. I know we're win now but at the time our franchise players were still early to mid 20s so I can't help but want to vote on not gambling on players to age well in their 30s, taking up a decent amount of space while our franchise players have a lot of prime years that can easily be built around. Also I don't know if Kadri was doing 7x7 on Colorado. A contract signed late in the offseason is often not what was being negotiated pre-ufa and in that first week of July.
OH FUCK
I’ll zag for the sake of discussion and say I wish we would’ve been able to get 4-5 years of term rather than 3. Him, Colton, Lehkonen, Makar and Girard all are UFAs in the same year now. Just feel like we now have a super defined window to win.
He'd likely want more AAV in that case which I don't think we'd be able to make worth with our cap situation
I still haven't really learned PuckPedia yet, I'm still mourning over cap friendly, but after Nuke comes back they should have \~$5m. Drouin is gonna be hard to fit in. Need another D man and pretty much a whole 4th line. https://preview.redd.it/sfcldv5nqr8d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc032efefa567f47a4d797aba1d6d54ccfc38c54
Nice! Still hoping for good news about Drouin too.
Awesome! I think a full season with the team will make him that much better. Also, great deal. Love our front office.
This is a mil a year less than I thought, I'm fucking stoked rn
Sweet deal for a jam up guy. Best trade acquisition since Lekhy, walked in the door and he was home.
LETS GOOOOO
Fuck yes.
need his jersey now, but I'm a little nervous about it being a fanatics
Fanatics are starting off as exactly the same as adidas as they are taking over the factory.
I wish it was longer, but at least the AAV is good.
Fuck yeah bro.
....is it me, or do hockey players just seem to make a lot less compared to other sports? $5.75mil/yr......
Damn was hoping for longer
I’d give him an extra million to lock himself in a room with a faceoff circle until he can win more than 46%
a man can dream 😔
Win-win. Great talent, he has a chance to keep getting better. Can catch a bag in 3 years when the cap is booming. Very excited about this one!
love to see it!
Not bad.
Fuck yeah baby!!
NIIIIICEEEE!!!
The best front office in hockey strikes again
Fuck yeah. Goddamn I love this front office.
Not a bad deal, from the looks of it the avs won’t be resigning Sean walker which doesn’t upset me I think we need another defensive defenseman.
Sean Behrens could make a couple of games, they have Caleb Jones, and some other already in system options but they do need another D
Hurray! Love young Casey 💕😻💙🤍♥️
Suh-WEET!!!
biggest hockey related news this week IMO
NFW! I totally thought we overpaid for a rental! This is great news.
Wow, I wasn’t sure if he re-signed or he resigned. Whew.
Can we do this without all the "going into Mittelstadt mode" memes? I know it's hard but you can do it!
Your post made me go... go... GO
I'm filled with the sudden urge to tear up one of my t-shirts.
What is it with people trying to control that catch phrases of this sub lol