The Buffalo Sabres re-signed restricted free-agent forward Casey Mittelstadt to a three-year deal with an average annual value of $2.5 million, the team announced Thursday.

Mittelstadt is coming off the most productive season of his young career. After spending the beginning of the 2020-21 campaign on the taxi squad, he thrived under new head coach Don Granato, who replaced the fired Ralph Krueger in March. Mittelstadt tallied 17 points in the final 22 games after returning to the center position and seeing matchups against the opponent's top lines.

"I think a lot of guys, including myself, owe (Granato) quite a bit," Mittelstadt said. "He challenged me when he took over and pushed me to become a better player. I think it's that simple. A lot of the strides I made are partly because of him pushing me or had a lot to do with him pushing me."

The Sabres selected Mittelstadt eighth overall in the 2017 draft. The 22-year-old has 61 points in 155 career games.

Buffalo still has two other restricted free agents to deal with in defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Henri Jokiharju.

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