Casey Mittelstadt is looking to hit a new ceiling as featured player on Bruins roster
"Guys get a fresh start, all of a sudden, they look like different players. So obviously, I'm hoping for that for myself, and I’m willing to put the work in to get there."
Friday was not Casey Mittselstadt’s first rodeo when it came to packing up his bags and ingratiating himself to a new dressing room.
The 26-year-old forward has now been traded twice in his career — closing out a seven-year tenure in Buffalo last March after getting traded to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Bowen Byram.
But after just 81 games in Colorado split across two seasons, Mittelstadt once again found himself on the move — dealt to Boston on Friday as the primary return in a transaction centered on longtime Bruin Charlie Coyle.
There’s been little time for the Edina, Minnesota native to adjust to his new surroundings — be it his first tilt with Boston on Saturday in Tampa or his first practice with his new teammates on Monday at Warrior Ice Arena.
But amid the expected growing pains and initial discomforts of getting re-acclimated to a new team, Mittelstadt already sees potential in a new destination focused on orchestrating an effective retool.
“It’s been, obviously, a crazy few days,” Mittelstadt said Monday. “I’ve said before, but of course wherever you are — you want it to work, and sometimes it doesn’t. So very excited for a fresh start. And I know a bunch of guys here, so I think that makes the transition a lot easier.
“I’m a little quieter, so I definitely appreciate having a few guys that I can lean on and show me around. But I’m excited. I think I played about six years in Buffalo, so I always hated playing the B’s, so I’m happy to be on the other side now.”
While Mittelstadt and Coyle are both centers, Boston’s new pivot is not cut from the same cloth as the Weymouth native.
Whereas Coyle used his 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame to play “keep away” with the puck and extended O-zone possessions with a methodical and deliberate approach, Mittelstadt relies more on speed and skill to make an impact on the frozen sheet.
“Casey [Mittelstadt] coming in right away, addresses some of the skillset needs that you look at [with] our power play — that we need to improve upon in some areas,” Don Sweeney said Friday. “And center ice is an area that we’re trying to start to drive play. … Thinking about trading Charlie Coyle and the identities that he brings to the table and what Mittelstadt might — they’re different players, and we’ve been void a little bit of that.”
On a Bruins roster that has struggled to light the lamp all season due to a plodding forward corps short on skill, a player like Mittelstadt could stand as a potential remedy.
While Mittelstadt has had an up-and-down trajectory in the NHL ranks since getting selected eighth overall in the 2017 NHL Draft, the 6-foot-1 center does have both a 59 and 57-point campaign on his resume already.
But after impressing in his first look with Colorado in 2023-24 (10 points in 18 regular-season games, nine points in 11 playoff games), Mittelstadt plateaued with the Avs this year.
Bumped out of top power-play minutes on a skilled Colorado roster and unable to find traction at even-strength play, Mittelstadt sat at 11 goals and 34 points over 63 games with the Avs this year before they sent him east.
“You want to work, but sometimes the fit or whatever isn’t right,” Mittelstadt said. “And obviously a fresh start — you see it all the time throughout the league. Guys get a fresh start, all of a sudden, they look like different players. So obviously, I’m hoping for that for myself, and I’m willing to put the work in to get there. So yeah, I’m very excited to be here, and it’ll be an honor to wear this sweater.”
While it remains to be seen how Boston will best cater to Mittelstadt’s strengths as a playmaker beyond reps on the team’s top power-play unit, the Bruins also received steady production from a line of Mittelstadt, Cole Koepke and Vinni Lettieri during Saturday’s win over the Lightning — with Koepke tallying two goals and Mittelstadt chipping in with an assist.
A successful retool for Boston doesn’t rely solely on Mittelstadt reaching another gear as a top-six option moving forward. But the talented forward also believes he has much more to give on a roster that has been lacking in what he provides on every shift.
“I think this year probably, to be completely honest, hasn’t been very good for me playing-wise,” Mittelstadt said. “I think there’s things that I probably would like to have done differently and work on. So I think, to be honest, I think I’m quite a ways away.
“I don’t want to put super high expectations on myself, but I think all players are gonna say the same thing — you hold yourself to a high standard, and you expect a lot for yourself. So I think there’s a lot of room for growth and I think I’m coming into a room where the guys are very good and very welcoming. So I’m trying to get there.”
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