Preds 2021-2022

The trade for Ellis is not a bad one. But Buffalo is so desperate for scoring offense that I would think they would rather give picks to acquire a player like that instead of roster talent. Naturally I don’t expect the predators are willing to give up Ellis for just draft picks unless they are first rounders and Buffalo just can’t do that either.

I'd really like a 1st in an Ellis return (and understand BUF not wanting to give up their high 1sts for a player that isn't ideal for their timeline). I'm not a big fan of Mittlestadt either. I think a team like the Flyers or Canes would be a better trading partner.

I can confidently say that right now Casey Mittelstadt is as good as any Center Nashville already has. Not to mention he costs a third of any of them. Of course until they can get rid of one or two of the awful contracts they already have they don’t really have a place for him to play. That said I think buffalo still needs him, and he finally started to produce consistently with the players he was playing with. A productive third line is something any playoff team needs, and I am a big believer in “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

With Donny "Meatballs" getting the HC job I don't see Mitts getting traded in this type of deal. Granato got the most out of Mitts of any Sabres coach and maybe Mitts starts living up to his 8OA drafting. If this was the season before I would have traded Mittelstadt but I think the Sabres hold on to him for at least this season and see if he builds off the end of last season under Granato