2C or not 2C, that is the question. So how come Casey Mittelstadt doesn’t look like the answer?
“We love it here, and obviously, I want it to work here with the team we have,” Mittelstadt, the Avalanche’s second-line center, told me before Colorado faced Minnesota at Ball Arena on Friday night.
“And the way that I think I can play and fit in and help the team. So, yeah, it’s definitely hard for (my girlfriend). And hard for us. But at the same time, all you can do is come to work, try to play better, improve your place.”
The NHL trade deadline is next Friday. And the Avs’ 2C spot has replaced right tackle on the Broncos as the most cursed position in Colorado sports not being played by Kris Bryant.
Since Nazem Kadri signed that seven-year mega contract with Calgary in August 2022, the Avs have tried everything but a can of Flex Seal to keep their second line afloat.
J.T. Compher? In over his skates.
Ryan Johansen? A lemon with a bad hip who, as it turned out, had lost a step.
Mittelstadt arrived last March from Buffalo in a swap for Bo Byram and looked like everything that Johansen wasn’t — young, spry and with his peak years in front of him.
Only at age 26, he’s on a career-low pace this season in goals per 60 minutes (0.6) and shots per 60 minutes (4.5). His points per 60 minutes (1.9) are the lowest he’s put up in three seasons.
But it’s not just the numbers that have Avs faithful grumbling. It’s the defense. It’s the slumps. The Minnesota native shoveled a lovely goal off a rebound late in Colorado’s 5-1 tire-ironing of New Jersey on Wednesday. It was also the first time he’d lit the lamp in 13 appearances. After a white-hot October (six goals), Mittelstadt scored just four times from Nov. 1-Feb. 26.
“Yeah, it’s been a little up and down, obviously. Probably more down than up,” the center said.
“And I feel like if you work hard, persevere, you get through (dry spells). And when you come out of it, you’ll be a better player for it. So that’s my belief. And like I said, I believe in myself. And I think we’re working through it. And it’s not the first time I’ve had some adversity.”
It’s also not the first time Mittelstadt has had his name dropped in trade rumors. Especially given that his three-year contract, per PuckPedia.com, features a $5.75 million cap hit per season through the spring of 2027.
“I think you want to have the stability for the people around you and kind of want to get comfortable in one place,” Mittelstadt continued. “I think everyone feels that way. But you also know it’s the nature of the business. We get to play hockey for a living and make a lot of money to do it, so my complaints are very, very few. And I feel very, very blessed to do this, whether you’re (in) rumors or out of them.”
They need him. They need somebody. Besides AWOL wingers, nothing can sink a Stanley Cup run quicker than getting bupkis from your second-line center.
Nasty Naz averaged 0.937 points per game during the Avs’ magical playoffs of ’22. In 2023, Compher scored once and recorded two points during a seven-game upset at the hands of Seattle. Mittelstadt posted nine points over 11 playoff tilts last spring, but look closer. Colorado lost two of the three contests against Dallas in which No. 37 failed to produce a point — including the Stars’ series-clinching Game 6 overtime win at Ball Arena.
“You’re not going to track down every shot, every rebound to get a deflection screen (or) rebound opportunity at the net,” Bednar reflected after the Devils rout. “But if you do it repeatedly and you’re doing it well, eventually you’re going to get there. And eventually we did … it’s a matter of (Mittelstadt) getting there over and over and over again. And it’s hard to play that way. But that’s where the goals are scored.”
“Can that (goal) help his confidence?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” Bednar replied. “Yeah, I think it can.”
Big Val Nichushkin is the most essential, unique piece of the Avs’ postseason puzzle, but every week on the Chu Chu Train is a spin of the roulette wheel. Bednar already has enough scratch tickets. He needs grinders. For Mittelstadt, the play’s the thing.