Deen's Notebook
Notebook: Is Casey Mittelstadt’s Cold Streak Becoming a Major Issue?

Casey Mittelstadt had the type of performance in October that felt like a player was marking his territory as the clear-cut No. 2 center of the Colorado Avalanche for the foreseeable future. He still might be that, but things haven’t gone accordingly since then.
Ever since the calendar flipped to November, his game began to slip and things have seemingly gone from bad to worse. During the Avs’ recent three-game road trip, head coach Jared Bednar played Juuso Parssinen on the second line ahead of Mittelstadt. Instead, the 25-year-old found himself lining up on the new-look third line with wingers Joel Kiviranta and Logan O’Connor.
On one hand, it could be seen as a demotion. Which it is, let’s not make it too complicated. But on the other hand, it’s a coach trying once again to send a wake-up call to a young forward who has seemingly lost his confidence.
Mittelstadt started the season with 13 points in 10 games and has just 13 in the 34 games since then. In the first 10, he had five power-play points but still had eight at even strength. He was averaging 19:58 and was playing mostly with rookies Calum Ritchie and Nikolai Kovalenko or depth forwards like Kiviranta and O’Connor — his wingers now. Perhaps Bednar is trying to recreate that early chemistry.
But his ice time has since dipped to a season average of 18:11. And in the last 10, Mittelstadt has averaged 16:54. The most mystifying stat is his lack of shots on goal. Mittelstadt had 30 shots in the first 11 games, scoring on six of them (20%). Since then, he’s got just 31 shots in 33 games and only two goals.
I truly do believe that particular stat has a lot to do with confidence. Mittelstadt is way too talented a player to fall to this level in the middle of a season.
It’s all very strange. Especially given the fact that the returns of Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen were supposed to further elevate his play. It somehow did the opposite.
Given where he’s fallen in ice time, and Bednar needing to resort to Parssinen and sometimes Ross Colton as the No. 2 center, it begs the question: Has his cold streak started to affect the team?
We’ve seen the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Lehkonen play three, four, and sometimes five minutes to close out a game. The Avs are again dealing with injury issues and the coaching staff is starting to lose trust in a player making more than $5 million and expected to produce at a far greater rate than he has. It’s not ideal for them to play those types of minutes. Mittelstadt’s struggles have factored into this at least a little bit.
This is the third straight month that Mittelstadt has continued to struggle. There probably isn’t a player that needs a reset more than him when the NHL enters the 4 Nations Faceoff break. But having him work his way out of this rut will be imperative for Colorado to have a successful playoff run. The team needs Mittelstadt.
Scott Wedgewood
I wrote about this yesterday, but I do wonder if Wedgewood gets the nod against the New York Rangers on Tuesday. It sort of makes the most sense given the four teams Colorado plays after that. Either way, it’s great to hear he’s making his way back to the lineup after such a scary injury just 13 days ago.
Trade market
I’ll have a trade board coming out soon on Colorado Hockey Now. As much as it feels like it’s still ways away, I think it’s time to really hone in on the March 7 trade deadline. Given the 4 Nations Faceoff, there’s a chance we’re going to see somewhat of a mini deadline before the early February break. Especially for players who are going to participate in the tournament.
One thing will be clear in my trade board: This seems like another year where the Avalanche are going to make several moves and won’t be afraid to pluck players off their current roster to make it happen. Last year it was Ryan Johansen and Bowen Byram. In 2022 it was Tyson Jost. They’ll need to send some bodies out to make the salary work. The question is, who?