Colorado Avalanche sign Casey Mittelstadt to three-year extension
The Colorado Avalanche have secured some depth down the middle as the team announced they’ve signed Casey Mittelstadt to a three-year contract extension worth $5.75 million per season.
Mittelstadt, 25, was a pending restricted free agent, who earned $2.5 million annually on his last contract and now both sides have some security for the next three seasons. Mittelstadt appeared in 18 games for the Avalanche last season, recording four goals and 10 points. He would go on to add another nine points in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Colorado acquired Mittelstadt three days ahead of the trade deadline this past season, in exchange for defenseman Bowen Byram. After losing Nazem Kadri to free agency in the summer of 2022, the Avalanche have since been on the prowl for centre depth and found exactly that in Mittelstadt at the end of last season.
Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland had this to say about locking up Mittelstadt for three seasons via a team press release “Casey was a great fit for our lineup and a big contributor to our team down the stretch and in the playoffs. 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.”
The Avalanche now approach free agency with just over $10 million in cap space, meanwhile only have four defensemen currently signed for next season and have a couple of pending free-agent forwards to consider re-signing, including Jonathan Drouin, who like Mittelstadt, seem to have found a fresh start with the Avalanche.
With Mittelstadt locked up for a few seasons, there’s growing speculation Ross Colton could be moved this summer. Frank Seravalli had Colton within his recent trade targets list as the Avalanche continue to be an intriguing team to watch this offseason.