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Mittel Ground

June 24, 2017, 7:41 AM ET [1 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
There were no surprises nor blockbuster trades at the top of the first round of 2017 NHL Draft. In the end, The New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche. and Vancouver Canucks drafted for need and got the players they were looking for.


The Devils resisted all temptations to trade their first overall pick and made forward Nico Hischier the number one selection. Hischier will added needed skill and size down the middle of the ice for the Devils.


The Flyers found their two-way center in Nolan Patrick, who is big, strong, and highly skilled. The Patrick selection made veteran Flyers center Brayden Schenn expendable. Schenn was later traded to St. Louis for center Jori Lehtera.


My favorite defenseman in the entire draft, Miro Heiskanen, was selected third overall by the Dallas Stars, who were rumored to be trading out of #3 for a package of assets. That trade didn't happen and the Stars are going to love having Heiskanen on their roster in the next couple of seasons.


Defenseman Cale Makar was taken fourth overall by the Colorado Avalanche.


Picks 5 through 9 featured are run on centermen.


Vancouver's fascination with Swedish forwards continued when they selected Elias Petersson fifth overall.

Vegas used it's first ever first round pick on center Cody Glass.

By virtue of the Friday morning Derek Stepan trade with Arizona, the NY Rangers earned teh seventh overall pick with which they selected center Lias Andersson.

In a somewhat surprising move to this observer, the Buffalo Sabres made center Casey Mittelstadt their main man at #8. I was convinced Buffalo would draft a defenseman at #8 considering the organizational depth chart is light at D.

Rounding out the top 10, Detroit grabbed pivot Michael Rasmussen at #9 and Florida selected RW Owen Tippett at #10.


NHL Draft 2017

SELECTION TEAM PLAYER



1 New Jersey Devils Nico Hischier, C
2 Philadelphia Flyers Nolan Patrick, C
3 Dallas Stars Miro Heiskanen, D
4 Colorado Avalanche Cale Makar, D
5 Vancouver Canucks Elias Pettersson, C
6 Vegas Golden Knights Cody Glass, C
7 New York Rangers (via Coyotes) Lias Andersson, C
8 Buffalo Sabres Casey Mittelstadt, C
9 Detroit Red Wings Michael Rasmussen, C
10 Florida Panthers Owen Tippett, RW



11 Los Angeles Kings Gabe Vilardi, C
12 Carolina Hurricanes Martin Necas, C
13 Vegas Golden Knights (via Jets) Nick Suzuki, C
14 Tampa Bay Lightning Cal Foote, D
15 Vegas Golden Knights (via Islanders) Erik Brannstrom, D
16 Calgary Flames Juuso Valimaki, D
17 Toronto Maple Leafs Timothy Liljegren, D
18 Boston Bruins Urho Vaakanainen, D
19 San Jose Sharks Josh Norris, C
20 St. Louis Blues Robert Thomas, C
21 New York Rangers Filip Chytil, LW
22 Edmonton Oilers Kailer Yamamoto, C/RW
23 Arizona Coyotes (via Wild) Pierre-Olivier Joseph, D
24 Winnipeg Jets (via Golden Knights) Kristian Vesalainen, LW/RW
25 Montreal Canadiens Ryan Poehling, C
26 Dallas Stars (via Chicago Blackhawks) Jake Oettinger, G
27 Philadelphia Flyers (from St. Louis Blues via Capitals) Morgan Frost, C/LW
28 Ottawa Senators Shane Bowers, C
29 Chicago Blackhawks (from Dallas Stars via Ducks) Henri Jokiharju, D
30 Nashville Predators Eeli Tolvanen, LW
31 St. Louis Blues (from Pittsburgh Penguins) Klim Kostin, RW





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That Draft Day feeling 😁😁

A post shared by Buffalo Sabres (@buffalosabres) on



At the eighth overall selection, Buffalo had it's choice of several premium blue liners like Cal Foote, Tim Liljegren, and Juuso Valimaki to bolster their back end. However, Sabres GM Jason Botterill opted to draft a forward with the eighth overall pick. Welcome to Sabreland, Casey Mittelstadt.

The Mittelstadt selection was very reminiscent of when in 2016, former Buffalo GM Tim Murray drafted center/winger Alex Nylander with the 8th overall pick rather than selecting big, tough defensemen Mikhail Sergachev or Jakob Chychrun.


At his Friday night presser, Botterill reiterated his drafting philosophy. Botterill is telling me to pump my brakes and relax. The defensemen are on the way in Saturday.

"As we've talked about before, if there's a fit we're going to certainly make a selection for a defenseman, but we're not going to force it," he said. "I don't like saying this word when you're talking about hockey players, but when you're trying to get the best assets, whether it's making trades in the future, if there's another good centerman tomorrow when we're ready to pick we're going to probably select him.

"If it's close then we'll probably lean toward a defenseman, but if there's a significant difference then we'll certainly pick the best player and try to develop that player. You never know when you can use that pick to acquire an NHL defenseman or an NHL goalie in the future."

Botterill acknowledged that he and his scouts thought about taking a run at the top tier of the draft, but though better if it. He said Casey Mittlestadt was their prime target.

"I think there was good conversations going on," Botterill said. "We were debating whether we should move up in the Draft. Once we got to that point, we didn't look at any opportunities to move back, we felt very comfortable picking Casey".

Mittelstadt isn't going to be playing in the NHL anytime soon. Admittedly, he has a lot of work to do in the weight room and on the ice. Botterill has a development plan for Mittelstadt as he had with some of his former Pittsburgh prospects.



"I remember when we sat down with Matt Murray talking about maybe after three years you're going to be maybe in a position to play in the National Hockey League, and now after three years pro he has two Stanley Cups," Botterill said.

"I think it's a situation where, yeah, going to Minnesota, it's a great program. You talk about strength training, it's a Big 10 school there, he's going to get that there. Plus you're going to play an up-tempo style. I think it's a great spot for him and a great fit. We'll see how his development goes."


Mittelstadt describes himself to others in this way:


"I think I’m a two-way center with some offensive upside. I like to think I can make some plays with the puck, use my vision, creativity, try to make guys around me better, and I think that’s what I do best".


Mittelstadt has never met Sabres sniper and 2015 2nd overall draft pick, Jack Eichel. He is looking forward to the opportunity to rip it up on the ice with Eichel.

"Yeah, being American, I like to watch Eichel. I think he’s one of the best Americans in the league, and a lot of Americans like to look up to him, so I definitely have watched them before. Like I said, I love watching Eichel. I’ve seen a lot of him throughout the years. It’s definitely, like I said, an honor to be there and an honor to one day play with those guys."



I like the selection of Casey Mittelstadt for the Sabres. He's big, fast and highly skilled. He will have to add core strength and develop his shoulders/upper body at the University of Minnesota, where he will be a freshman this fall.


Or will he?


In his post-draft media scrum, Mittelstadt sounded undecided when asked about his plans to become a Golden Gopher in the next few months.

"Yeah, I think that’ll still be the plan, and obviously we’ll evaluate our options, but I should be going to Minnesota next year, trying to develop and get bigger and stronger in the weight room and trying to develop from there".


"Evaluate options". Like what, exactly?

Sabres fans will no doubt be seeing Mittelstadt play for Team USA when the World Junior Championships return to Buffalo on Boxing Day 2017.




Thanks, Sabres Tv










***









Here's Buffalo's Round 2 drafting selection for today:

#37 and #54 (from Minnesota)

#89 (from Washington)

#99

#192


***


Might Sabres fans see an Evander Kane trade on Saturday.

You can never say never.
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