Dallas Stars Draft Preview: Forward Casey Mittelstadt

Up until the NHL Draft on June 23rd, the team at Blackout Dallas will be rolling out previews of the potential Dallas Stars selections. Today, we have Casey Mittelstadt.

Name: Casey Mittelstadt

Position: Center

Shoots: Left-handed

Hometown: Edina, Minnesota

Birthdate: November 22nd, 1998

Size: 6-foot-1, 201 lbs

Team: Eden Priarie Eagles (Minnesota High School), Green Bay Gamblers (United States Hockey League)

Stats: 21 goals, 43 assists, 64 points in 25 games at Eden Priarie – 13 goals, 17 assists, 30 points in 24 games at Green Bay

NHL Ceiling: First-line playmaking center

The Dallas Stars, like any team in the NHL, can not get enough speedy, playmaking centers. A team with Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Radek Faksa, and more is already stocked full of stellar offensive centermen, but they might have someone else to join that fray soon.
Casey Mittelstadt is a young man from Eden Prairie, Minnesota who is projected by The Hockey Writers, McKeen’s Hockey, TSN’s Bob McKenzie, and more as a top-five talent in the upcoming NHL Draft.

As an extremely gifted offensive talent, Mittelstadt won Minnesota’s highest high school hockey accolades as member of the Eden Prairie Eagles: the Mr. Hockey Award. The Dallas Stars’ first round pick in last season’s Draft, Minnesota-Duluth winger Riley Tufte was the 2016 recipient of the award.

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Nevertheless, NHL players such as Ryan McDonagh, Nick Leddy, Paul Martin, and Nick Bjugstad have won the Mr. Hockey award prior to Mittelstadt. You could argue that Mittelstadt is the best playmaker out of all of these men.

Mittelstadt, an 18-year-old, has the playmaking attributes of some of the best centers in the NHL, says his USHL coach, Pat Mikesch, with whom Blackout Dallas had the opportunity to talk. “[John] Tavares and Logan Couture are two guys that kind of fit his style of play, where he contributes without and puck and with it.”

After watching his highlights from Eden Prairie and the United States Hockey League’s Green Bay Gamblers, it’s evident that Mittelstadt is not only just an impressive offensive talent, but a complete player. “He has the ability to make plays and score on his own at times.”

Mittelstadt tallied 13 goals and 27 assists in just 24 games with the Gamblers, but more impressively his excellence in the offensive came at almost no price, as Mittelstadt served just two penalty minutes.

NHL.com

“His maturity at a young level allows him to just focus on improving himself every day; in practice, in games, on ice or off,” Mikesch tells us. It’s extremely apparent that Mittelstadt is more mature and disciplined than he’s given credit for.

“His game translates very well to what’s working in the NHL right now, the speed and playmaking ability that these elite forwards have is what makes Casey great,” Mikesch says.

At 6’1″ and 202 pounds, Mittelstadt has the size to back up his rapid, north-to-south game. While he doesn’t throw his body around often, his strength around the puck will surely improve as he grows into his body.

“One thing we talked about a lot is puck protection. Just being able to spend more time with the puck when you don’t have an attack lane, and finding more time and space for himself by protecting it.

“I think he will be able to improve that aspect of his game quickly. He’s been able to be an attack first player at the levels he’s played at. It’s just about creating more space and allowing his teammates to get into the right places.

“Having seen a few NHL first-rounders in Green Bay, he’s just further along physically. That adjustment will come quickly.”

Mittelstadt’s arugably the best transitional forward in the whole Draft. He quickly gets up to full speed with his long, solid strides, and his vision for passing is second-to-none. However, his game within the offensive zone, including that of finishing scoring opportunities off by illuminating a red light, can’t be understated.

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“[on a scale from one to ten] his skating would be probably an eight, his stick handling is a nine and close to a ten, and his release would be an eight to a nine. Those are three of his biggest strengths there.

“His ability to be such an impactful player with the puck in transition is why he’s so exciting to the top teams in this Draft,” Mikesch continued.

Pat Mikesch also noted his ability to display leadership and toughness on the bench for the Gamblers, something that generally translates well to pro hockey. “The game in Des Moines, early in the year when he was with us for the first part of the season stuck out to me.

“We were down a couple goals and you could tell he was pushing the bench, then he scored a beautiful power play goal in the third period and ended up scoring another goal to tie the game up. We ended up winning late in that game, but you could see he had the ability to be that game changer.

“He got all of his teammates on board in that game,” Coach Mikesch stated.

Dallas Stars

One of Casey’s strongest attributes is his ease at being coached. Never will that be more valuable than now, if he’s drafted by the Dallas Stars, given head coach Ken Hitchcock and how difficult he can be to play for.

“Ken Hitchcock has had a lot of elite talents excel under him. In St. Louis, he brought in a lot of young talent and just took off. Casey is so responsible defensively that Hitchcock would likely give him more leeway to make plays with the puck.”

If you ask me, there isn’t a better player to pick after Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier for the Dallas Stars. An impactful centerman that can do anything in all three zones is hard to pass up.

However, he will not be an immediate project in the Dallas pro hockey system. Mittelstadt is committed to the University of Minnesota.

“It would be such a large jump from playing in high school for the majority of the season. I think physically, his body would be there, but to get the reps with that type of size and skill level in the NHL today would be a remarkable jump for a young man.”

“Casey is going to be in impact player at Minnesota. Any player that puts up the totals he does in our league translates well to college hockey. His game will better progress in the NCAA.”

Next: Dallas Stars Have Quite A Bit To Think About Before The Draft

Mittelstadt has the ability to become either a first or second like playmaking center with a potential 70-point season or two in his career. If he isn’t on the radar for the Dallas Stars, hopefully that changes, because the Minnesota commit will be a future All-Star in his NHL tenure.

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