Buffalo Sabres: When will Casey Mittelstadt turn pro?

Fresh off an impressive showing at the World Junior tournament, thoughts turns to when Casey Mittelstadt will sign his entry level deal with the Buffalo Sabres?

When the Buffalo Sabres selected Casey Mittelstadt in last year’s NHL draft, it was a somewhat surprising move. Partly because the Sabres were expected to address their blue line issues, but also because Mittelstadt was not projected to still be available at the eighth spot.

Regardless, it was tough to argue with picking a player whose offensive game was described as “electric”. Throw in the analysis that he has superior puck skills, along with a high-level hockey IQ and it all adds up to an enticing prospect.

The only real concern surrounding the 19-year-old, related to his lack of strength. However, this was something he could work on, while playing for the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the 2017/18 college season.

No doubt a lot of Buffalo Sabres fans will have wondered about Mittelstadt’s progress. In that respect, they got an answer recently, along with an up close look at his development.

That’s because Buffalo hosted the 42nd World Junior Hockey Championship between Dec. 26 – Jan. 5. And while the United States had to settle for Bronze, Mittelstadt shone on the big stage.

The Edina, Minnesota native finished tied for the tournament lead with 11 points in seven games (four goals and seven assists). As a result, he took home MVP honors.

United States captain Joey Anderson wasn’t remotely surprised by what his teammate achieved. As reported by John Wawrow of the Associated Press, Anderson said:

"“He’s got a whole arsenal of fun stuff to watch. When we were younger, he’d pull stuff out of his hat that were awesome moves.”"

Mittelstadt’s electric talent was best exemplified by scoring arguably the goal of the tournament against Slovakia. However, don’t just take our word for it:

As you can well imagine, the goal made a lot of people sit up and take notice, including Jason Botterill. As per Wawrow, the Sabres’ general manager said:

"“What I was really impressed about that goal was certainly it was a beautiful, beautiful hockey play, but it was the timing of it. Here was a scenario where he was trying to give his team a spark in a crucial situation. I think that’s certainly what we need here in Buffalo.”"

Understandably, this leads to the question of when Mittelstadt will turn pro? After all, the Buffalo Sabres are bottom of the Eastern Conference, with the second-worst record in the league.