The Sabres dropped a 2-1 overtime decision on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but that got second billing to Wednesday’s trade.
TORONTO — Let’s spare you the pain of recapping the Buffalo Sabres’ 2-1 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs and just hit the key points:
Victor Olofsson returned to the lineup for the first time since February 15 and promptly scored his fifth goal of the year.
William Nylander and Auston Matthews scored for the Leafs, with Matthews’ 54th goal of the season coming in overtime to win it.
There weren’t a lot of shots, there was even less compelling action, and it’s all very understandable. The Sabres were rocked by the sudden trade of Casey Mittelstadt Wednesday afternoon and headed to Nashville to play Thursday night. Toronto was coming off a loss to Boston on Monday night and were headed to Boston to play Thursday.
Thanks a lot NHL schedule makers, none of this makes any sense.
These games almost feel secondary this week as we’re all waiting for various shoes to drop leading up to the trade deadline on Friday. Seeing Mittelstadt as the first Sabres player out the door to Colorado in exchange for defenseman Bo Byram (analysis of the deal) is a stunner and the kind of move that was very difficult to prepare for.
“Anytime there’s a trade where you lose a teammate, it’s sad,” Dylan Cozens said. “Especially Mitts, he’s been here for a long time, everyone loves him, and he was such a great guy and he’s such a great player. It sucks to see him go, for sure. But (trades are) a part of (the game) and we’re getting a really good player in return.”
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Trading Casey Mittelstadt is a somewhat complicated issue on the ice for reasons we’ve gone over already. The off-ice component of that comes in the ties that bind in the room. The uncertainty that comes with the deadline is something the team’s veteran players, particularly Kyle Okposo, have been vital to keeping everyone’s heads on straight while things are uncertain. Of course, Okposo might not be around much longer in Buffalo himself which adds to the chaos of the week.
Losing him, potentially losing Girgensons and now having lost Mittelstadt will be a seismic shift in the makeup of the room and how the franchise will move ahead.
Moving on with Byram
As close as Mittelstadt was with the rest of the roster, Bo Byram (we’re calling him Bo because that’s what he went by during his draft year and at some point, it turned into using his full first name – these things happen) played in the Western Hockey League and was drafted in 2019. If that dossier sounds familiar it might be because it’s the same background Peyton Krebs and Dylan Cozens have.
The three of them are close friends and have known each other for a long time now competing with and against each other all the way up into the NHL. Now they’re all teammates at the highest level.
“We’ve talked so much about playing on the same team and I went on All-Star break with him, and he just kept telling me how much he’d love to be here and play with us,” Cozens said. “It’s so exciting and can’t wait for the guys and the team to meet him. They’re all going to love him.
“He was my teammate in Midget, and we played together Team Canada, U-17s, U-18s, World Juniors twice. He’s one of my best friends. I’m really excited to add him to this team, he’s going to fit in so well. And he’s just such a great player with so much potential. He’s not even close to his ceiling yet.”
Elite level players in hockey, particularly ones from the same region, are going to know each other somehow. Usually, it’s just from playing together on a team or against each other, but for these three guys it’s a genuine long-time friendship they all share.
“We got a guy I’ve known since I was probably eight years old,” Krebs said. “Bo is an unbelievable guy, love him to death, and I think he’s going to fit so well into our group and I’m so excited to for him to get here, it’s going to be awesome.”
Krebs is originally from Calgary; Cozens is from Whitehorse in Yukon, but played a lot of his hockey in British Columbia where Byram is from (Cranbrook). It’s wild that they’d all be not only connected but tight with one another. Krebs found out about the trade in the most modernly wholesome way.
“I was on FaceTime with my wife and just saying I was having my pregame nap and Bo’s gal texted my gal and that’s what happened,” Krebs said. “So instantly got a call from Bo and I was happy to see a smile on his face.”
In a season that’s winding down with a disappointing finish likely to come and more internal heartbreak on the way to close out the week, seeing a trio of friends being reunited on one team makes for a hopeful foundation for what’s sure to be a new wave iteration of the team to forge ahead with and look to end the playoff drought with next season.
A few words about Mittelstadt
Having known Mittelstadt since his draft year and following his career through Minnesota and the US World Junior team and the ups and downs of being a Sabre, I’ve always had time for him and always appreciated his very Minnesotan kind of candor.
He’s a hockey player through and through and one of the most genuine players to come through Buffalo and I have immense respect for the work and the effort he’s put into improving his game as well as his intensely competitive nature that you’d never realize was there because he’s just so dang nice.
A few weeks ago, I spoke to Casey about a piece my editors at Bleacher Report asked me to write about him. In it I discussed the possibility he would be traded and what a deal for him could look like and which teams made most sense. It turned out I had a relatively good read on what it would take.
The one request I had before I wrote it was that I spoke to Mittelstadt about it first. Players being talked about in trades always finds a way to get back to them. When I spoke to Casey, I explained what I’d be writing and that I wanted to let him know I’d be doing it and if it would be OK to talk to him about the talk and speculation. He was cool with it and understood I had a job to do and that this kind of thing is all part of the game.
I was mindful about what to ask and how to ask it because being the subject of trade chatter was genuinely new for him and even though he’s a veteran in the league now, he’s still 25 years old and, call it empathy or call it being a giant softy if you want, but I know if I were in his shoes, that kind of talk would affect me in some way. Writing that piece without talking to him about it and having it drop online without having a discussion felt wrong.
I’ve known him for years and while that’s a strictly professional reporter/player kind of “relationship,” the idea of writing that and having his friends or family ask about it and then seeing my name on it made feel it would’ve been just kind of shitty to do that. There’s an immense amount of respect there from me and it was the least I could do.
I think Mittelstadt will do very well in Colorado and being in the Western Conference will at least allow him to get back home to Minnesota a couple more times a season and become an instant thorn in the side of the Wild, too. I hope he does well there.