When we last saw the Buffalo Sabres in KeyBank Center nearly five months ago, Casey Mittelstadt was scoring the final goal of the season in overtime to beat the Chicago Blackhawks and give Rick Jeanneret a nifty going-away present.
It was a feel-good moment for the entire organization and Mittelstadt said at the time he was glad that his name will forever be on the call of RJ's last goal. Still, it marked the end of an injury-plagued season for the Sabres' No. 1 pick in 2017. Mittelstadt had just six goals in 40 games and is at a bit of a career crossroads, even though he's still only 23 years old.
Last September, he was the Sabres' unquestioned No. 1 center and was their best player in training camp. But it never panned out in a season that saw an undisclosed upper-body injury on opening night linger for months and send him in and out of the lineup after surgery.
People are also reading…
After a hard summer of work at home in Minnesota, Mittelstadt is trying to refocus on getting back his game and staking a claim as a core piece in the Buffalo lineup.
"I had a couple of weeks (after the season) just to get some rest more than anything and make a few tweaks here and there," Mittelstadt said Monday on the eve of the Sabres' exhibition home opener against the Philadelphia Flyers. "But it's nice to get home to kind of reset and see things fall in place a little bit, so definitely looking forward to this here."
"If you watch our practice, he's an impact player," said winger Jeff Skinner. "And obviously, last season he had a tough injury. He went through one of those situations where it's tough to come back full speed and and I thought he did a great job battling through. I think that sort of adversity he went through is only going to benefit him going through his career.
"But having him back having a full summer and seeing how he is out there in practice so far, it's exciting, I think, for us. It should be exciting for everyone. He's worked hard to this point. He's going to be a huge part of our team."
Mittelstadt, whose career highs of 12 goals and 25 points were set in the 2018-19 season, said he's not putting any numerical goals on his season. Health rates as the No. 1 priority.
"I like to focus on just day-to-day things," he said. "I find if you're doing the right things every day and getting good meals, getting good sleep, usually that leads to good practices and good practices lead to good games. So that's the plan for me."
Coach Don Granato said it's "nerve-racking" to watch Mittelstadt in camp because he's rooting so hard for him to round back into form.
"Here's a guy that's put the work in and you want to see him get rewarded for it," Granato said. "He is in really good shape. He's skating really well. I think of him and Victor Olofsson probably are the two guys everybody who is a Sabres fan knows, watching them last year, they they had to fight through a lot of physical adversity. They just weren't themselves.
"You just want 'Mittsy' to stay healthy. I think that he will and we'll all get to see a much, much better version of Casey Mittelstadt. Based on not only the work he's gone through, but the experience he's gained. And some of it is just having to sit on the sidelines and gain some experience, especially at that age."
Much like Peyton Krebs and Dylan Cozens, Mittelstadt can play both wing and center. Even he doesn't know where he will land. In practice Monday, for instance, he was in the middle between Kyle Okposo and Olofsson. He's already seen time earlier in camp at left wing.
"I'll play hard and try to have some fun. I've played both before so it's no problem bouncing back and forth," Mittelstadt said. "It honestly doesn't feel much different playing wing and playing center, especially in our system, just because we're trying to always be moving and then pressure the puck. So if you're the first guy back, you're playing center. So for me, it's pretty much the same. And obviously, I'm looking forward just to playing some hockey."
