No ice time is guaranteed in Buffalo.
Just ask Zach Bogosian, Colin Miller, Conor Sheary and Casey Mittlestadt.
Sabres GM Jason Botterill and head coach Ralph Kreuger have been patiently waiting for Mittelstadt to take his game to the next level.
Mittesltadt jumped from Minnesota high school hockey straight the the NHL without playing a game in the Always Hard League (AHL). Mittelstadt left the University of Minnesota at the end of the 2017-18 season and played six games for the Sabres at the end of the season.
In 77 games played in the NHL during his rookie season in 2018-19, Mittelstadt scored 12 goals and 13 assists. He was -19.
Today, the Sabres sent the struggling former 8th overall pick in 2017 to the Rochester Americans for more development time.
Mittelstadt has scored just goals and five assists in 31 games this season.
Kreuger has chosen to scratch Mittelstadt for four of the last five games. Kreuger sets high expectations and demands more from his players. He acknowledges Mittelstadt is still learning while getting on-the-job-training in the NHL against the best players in the world.
Life comes at you fast when you are a struggling player in the NHL. Mistakes and blown assignments happen at a more frequent rate when the confidence tank is empty.
Mittelstadt has been running on fumes for the past month.
In his 21 games, Mittelstadt has scored just one goal and one assist. He has landed just 18 shots on goal and is averaging 13:24 TOI.
Mittlestadt, who turned 21 last week, has scored 17 goals and 22 assists in 114 NHL games.
There is no question about it. Mittelstadt has been striuggling with his confidence this season.
Mittelstadt is at his best when he is skating and creating plays with the puck on his stick. When confident, Mittelstadt is an efficient manager of the puck and a high quality defender.
I agree with the decision to send the kid to Rochester so that he can regain his confidence while playing 20:00 minutes per game in all situations.
The Amerks are in a red hot run and own a 13-1-2 since November 1.
Head coach Chris Taylor has his Amerks in first place in the Eastern Conference with 40 points. Taylor is familiar with Mittelstadt having coached him in Buffalo earlier this season when Don Granato was unable to coach due to an illness. Taylor filled in for Granato.
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