Avalanche Sign Casey Mittelstadt To Three-Year Contract

Perhaps the most important (and expensive) piece of off-season business is done for the Colorado Avalanche.

Casey Mittelstadt, acquired at the trade deadline from the Buffalo Sabres, has signed a three-year contract extension with the Avalanche. According to Pierre Lebrun, the contract will carry a $5.75 million AAV. Mittelstadt is coming off a season where he produced 57 points in 80 games, but it was the playoffs where he really took off. He led the Avalanche in even strength points and finished with nine points in 11 games.

With Mittelstadt and Nathan MacKinnon down the middle, the core is set down the middle for Colorado. This will also allow Calum Ritchie to develop at his own pace, as he’s not expected to make the jump to the NHL next season. Three years is probably shorter than the team would have preferred, but going longer would have cost more, and Colorado might not be able to do that right now.

“Casey was a great fit for our lineup and a big contributor to our team down the stretch and in the playoffs,” said Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland. “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.”

With the Mittelstadt deal, Colorado now has a clearer idea of how much money they have to spend the rest of the off-season. The next order of business will be seeing if they can get Jonathan Drouin under contract. He is set to hit the market on July 1 as an unrestricted free agent if Colorado cannot get him under contract.

We’ll have more on this contract soon and all your Avalanche news as we enter the busiest time of the year.