Both players in this trade have tremendous upside and a long career ahead of them.

Fair deal.

Love Bo, but his injury history has always been scary. I like this deal for the Avs

Jesus ****ing christ is my team clueless.

5 ****ing lhd, and now one how has concussions issues.

**** the sabres. I'll find a new team this offseason

Fair deal value wise, the trade makes a ton of sense for the Avs but I'm struggling to see why Buffalo wants another young LHD

I need a moment to process this trade. I really like Byram. And I think he's going to be a fantastic defender one day. One the other hand, he was having a rough year this year, and he's one bad hit to the head away from a lengthy injury. He has yet to play a full season. I also feel bad he went from being behind Makar and Toews to being behind Dahlin and Power. On the other side of this, I am pumped on Middlestadt. I think he's underrated. He was having a good year on buffalo this yeah. If we can re-sign him. Bam. There is our future 2C. He's also only 25 so hopefully he has a few more years in him and really blossoms in Colorado.

When the Avs committed long term to Devon Toews, the writing was on the wall for Byram to get moved. They put him on his off-hand side to try and increase his value and it worked.

I posted this trade as my perfect offer for the Avs to get a quality young #2 Center.

I don't see what it really does for Buffalo who are so overweight on the LHD and similiar types of players

There's a very considerable risk in both directions, so I guess we have to just call this one even Steven fair until time unfolds.

@OrganizedConfusion55
First, congratulations to Casey going from a bottom feeding totally lost organization to a recent Stanley cup team.
Second, congratulations to Chris MacFarland for filling need and giving up an injury prone LHD.
Third, This is a horrible deal for the Sabres, FIVE left handed defensemen?
Colorado needed a second line center, Buffalo does not need a fifth LHD especially one who is injury prone.
Buffalo should have held out for MUCH more.
Colorado and Casey are the BIG winners in this trade, Buffalo huge loss adding a defenseman when the team is struggling to score goals.

If I had heard before the deadline that the Avs would be trading away Byram and a 1st on the same day, I would have assumed Sakic had lost his mind, however I think we just witnessed a masterclass in asset management.

This trade isn't about the Avs pulling one over on rival GMs, they paid fair prices in both circumstances, however the trades are such a tidy fit for their organizational needs, their cap situation, their depth, their cup window, and address their weaknesses so well by trading assets that likely aren't as valuable to the Avs as they will be to other teams, that Sakic wins without having to negotiate anyone into giving him assets at rock bottom prices.

Great work for them, a real push for another cup feels imminent.

It was a clown show of a trade by us. But when he gets concuessed next season. It won't matter

Colorado got better now, but Buffalo got 3 years younger and another year on the contract.

Casey Mittelstadt may have peaked, in which case Buffalo wins, especially if Mittelstadt didn't want to resign.

Call it a fair trade.

Was thinking Byram would be used to get a centre, good on them. Shocker that lazy ass Johansen didn't work out on a Mackinnon run team 😂. Curious for sabres though, their top 4D all LH. I wonder how they'll navigate that

Yes and maybe after Colorado saw Malinski playing in NHL lvl, it made more easy to trade Byram? Ofc I seen Malinski just 23 game, but i like it him a lot. I been thinking for while, who could be that second C for Colorado and after i saw they traded Mittlestadt i think it can be perfect fit, if they can keep his salary to 5-6milj range.

I also agree on those worries that BUF just added one more LD, maybe they re-trade Byram or maybe he get use to play RD better in new system, but i agree its bit weird.

I voted fair deal.

Yeah I think seeing how well Malinski played with us helped this deal. Also a few other factors. Girard has looked really good since coming back from the players assistance program. And him and byram just never fit together for whatever reason. And to a lesser extent, Gulyayev playing all season in the top 4 in the KHL as an 18 year old is really impressive. And so I think he was also considered in this.

Are they even going to be able to resign mitts? Their cap situation looks awful next year

Yeah Malinski, Behrens and Gulyayev in the pipeline helps to look ahead, but even JJ and Caleb this year playing well really help make it easier to move on from Bo. Malinski is great for the team to have as depth since if Makar or Manson goes down we know he can jump into that role. We'll see if they extend Sean Walker or not if that sets him up for a roster spot next year on the NHL club.

Fair deal but I'm not sure why Buffalo thought they should move the excess center for a LD, the last position they need help in

real hockey trade boys, love to see it

They wouldn't have acquired Mittelstadt without that in mind. Either a bridge deal 3 x $4 mil or 6x$5.5 type deal is likely.

If Landeskog comes back then we have about a $3 million issue depending upon the extension for Walker/Mittelstadt and not re-signing Drouin. If Landy doesn't then we can possibly bring Drouin back at $3-4 and there is not cap problem.

Nice piece of buisness for the Av's here there 2 deals have them as my cup favorite now.

Really love Mitts.

I'll wait and see for Buffalo, Byrams very talented but sort of a risk.

COL wins in the short term, but BUF probably wins more in the long-run

This is pretty much the closest we’re going to get to an old-fashioned hockey trade these days. Colorado fills an obvious position of need from a position of surplus. It’s not as obvious to me for Buffalo, with two #1 overall picks already on defense, but I guess this makes their defense deeper, they get the younger player, and they’re still in good shape at center.

Cap-wise, Buffalo gets one more year of cost certainty with Byram than they had with Mittelstadt. Colorado is going to have to pay Mittelstadt more next season than they would have paid Byram, but they have a chance to lock him up long term after first finding out if he’s a good fit. The other thing I find interesting is that they cleared almost $3M in cap space with the two trades they made today. Makes me wonder if they have another move in the works.

Random deal by the Sabres to trade for another LHD especially one that is a hit away from retirement. This wasn't what was promised in a Mitts trade by Sabres fans.

I like Byram better but he’ll be stuck behind Dahlin and Power on the left side in Buffalo.

I think the trade is fair. Both Byrum and Mittelstadt fill needs for their new teams and have histories of injuries.

Mittelstadt, previously the 3C with the Sabres, had been leading the team in goals scored. The Sabres are deep in scoring centers. Mittelstadt is the player who had to move. The Avalanche have an opportunity to see Mittelstadt develop as a 2C.

Byrum, possibly in need of a change in scenery, should address the Sabres' need for a defensive, puck clearing top two pairing right defenseman. The Sabres' inability to clear the puck out of the defense zone has led to many goals against and losses. The 5-2 loss against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, 3 March, is a recent example of the Sabres' ineffective defense. Byrum will be expected to improve the Sabres' defense.