Breaking news this Wednesday afternoon (2:10 pm): per Pierre LeBrun and numerous other NHL reporters, the Buffalo Sabres are trading forward Casey Mittelstadt to the Colorado Avalanche. The return is defenseman Bo Byram; it is a one-for-one deal.
Update (2:19 pm): This trade is now official and has been announced by the the team.
Byram, 22, was drafted by the Avalanche in 2019 with the fourth overall pick. This season, he has skated in 55 games, accruing eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points. In his career to date, he’s appeared in 146 NHL games, with 63 points (23-4) and a plus-16.
Byram played with Devon Levi, Peyton Krebs, Dylan Cozens & Jack Quinn on the 2021 World Juniors team, which won a silver medal. He also played with Cozens on the 2020 team, which won gold.
Mittelstadt, 25, was drafted by the Sabres with the eighth overall selection in the 2017 NHL Draft. After one year at the University of Minnesota, he joined the Sabres and has played nearly all of his time since then in the NHL, with the exception of 36 AHL games in the 2019-20 season. Mittelstadt has 47 points (14-33) in 62 games this season, with 186 points in 339 games in his career to date.