The Colorado Avalanche are keeping one of their best players. The club is signing forward Casey Mittelstadt to a three-year contract extension, per The Athletic. The forward scored a career-high 18 goals this past season.
“Casey was a great fit for our lineup and a big contributor to our team down the stretch and in the playoffs,” Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland said, per NHL.com. “His game has improved every season and he took yet another big jump this past year. We believe he has an even higher level to reach and it was important to get him signed for several years. Casey is an exciting, playmaking center with good vision and hands and at just 25 years old is going to be a big part of our team moving forward.”
The extension keeps the forward in Colorado through the 2026-27 season. He is getting an average annual value of $5.75 million, per The Athletic.
Mittelstadt's journey in Colorado
Mittelstadt has 196 career points, playing with the Avalanche and Buffalo Sabres. He joined Colorado in the midst of the 2023-24 campaign following a trade with Buffalo. Mittelstadt played a key role in a high-octane Avalanche offense this season. Colorado scored the most goals of any NHL club this regular season, per league stats. Colorado posted a total of 302 goals. They were the only team to score 300 regular season goals.
The Avalanche made it to the Western Conference playoffs, only to lose to the Dallas Stars in a tough 6 game series. In the postseason, Mittelstadt registered nine points in 11 games. It was his first time playing in the postseason, and he made the most of his time on the ice. Colorado's offense is good enough to get them back to the playoffs next year, if the team can keep its core group of guys together.
Mittelstadt's production has improved substantially over the last few years. He had a career-high 59 points during the 2022-23 season for Buffalo. He nearly reached that mark again this past season, finishing the regular season with 57. The forward has played in the NHL since 2017.
Colorado still has work to do. The team has talented players in Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, but those guys need help. Mikko Rantanen is entering the last year of his contract, so the team will have to come to a decision about his future. While the Avalanche scored almost at-will during the campaign, the team struggled on defense. Colorado gave up 252 regular season goals, which was 17th in the league. The Avalanche defense will have to improve in order for the team to make a Stanley Cup run.
Avalanche fans are certainly hoping the team accomplishes some great things moving forward. The team last won a Stanley Cup just a few years ago, in 2022.
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