Notes: Young Mittelstadt will make NHL debut against Red Wings

BUFFALO -- It doesn't happen often but Evgeny Svechnikov will not be the youngest player on the ice when the Detroit Red Wings face the Buffalo Sabres tonight at KeyBank Center.
Svechnikov, 21, was born Oct. 31, 1996, making him three months younger than Dylan Larkin.

However, Casey Mittelstadt, the Sabres' first-round draft pick, eighth overall, in last summer's NHL Entry Draft, will be making his NHL debut tonight.
Mittelstadt, who signed a three-year entry level contract three days ago, was born on Nov. 22, 1998.
"I had a chance to watch Casey pretty up close and personal in Plymouth last year at the national junior tryouts," Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I thought he was excellent. He was the best forward in the group there. Made tons of plays. Jeff Weintraub, our assistant video coach, was with him his last year in Green Bay. Pat Mikesch, his coach in Green Bay, I played with in junior. They all have great things to say about him. Big-time hockey smarts. I think that's the No. 1 thing. He's a hockey player, like a lot of Minnesotans. I think he'll be a real good player and hopefully he has a bad night tonight."
Mittelstadt has not played in a game since March 3, when the Minnesota Golden Gophers were eliminated by Penn State in the Big Ten playoffs.
Mittelstadt had one practice and Thursday's morning skate with the Sabres and is set to center a line with Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues.
"I think obviously there's a bit of excitement," Mittelstadt said. "It's something I've been waiting for a long time. Obviously, I think it'll be a bit of a long day to get to the game but for me I'm not too nervous yet. I might be a little more nervous when it gets here. It should be exciting.
"To be able to get a practice in before you play is definitely huge. You kind of get out there and get a feel for the speed and the pace. You get to see who you're playing with and kind of how they work and how they move around the ice. For me that was big. It helped me settle in quite a bit."
Mittelstadt is also expected to play on the second power-play unit.
The young forward was busy with his college team so he is not too familiar with the Wings.
"Honestly, I didn't watch them much this year," Mittelstadt said. "They have a lot of skilled forwards, a lot of fast forwards like Larkin, (Frans) Nielsen, (Henrik) Zetterberg. It should be exciting to get to play against those guys. Obviously I've been watching them for the last few years, which makes it pretty cool."
SVECHNIKOV ADJUSTING: While Mittelstadt plays in his first NHL game, Svechnikov will be skating in his 14th and 12th this season.
"Just being around the team, around the guys, around the system, learning so much," Svechnikov said. "It just feels like I'm in my place. It feels way more comfortable.
"Every game is better and better and every shift, I try to do my best. Try making plays, be responsible. Obviously I'm going to make mistakes. I'm here to make it and I'm learning. I'm still young and it's only been 10 games. I'm more calm and trying to make plays."
Svechnikov is gradually getting a little more ice time, with a season-high 10:42 in the team's 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday.
"I think we're getting a better feel," Blashill said. "Getting to 10 minutes gives him a better feel. I think the biggest thing though is you still want to make sure you learn the lesson that you got to beat other guys out. That's what Tyler Bertuzzi ultimately did. He didn't have lots of minutes, but he showed enough in those minutes that now he's on the first line.
"I think it's a balance for sure. I've tried to make a conscious effort of getting him out there in different situations. Not just different situations, but different lines, coming off penalty kills when maybe he's out there with different centers just to get a little bit of a feel. Again I do think it's important, and I thought he played better the last game, so the better he plays, the more he'll play."
After recording 20 goals and 31 assists in 74 games with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins last season, Svechnikov struggled this year.
Svechnikov had a training-camp injury to deal with at the start and then put so much pressure on himself when he came back, resulting in just seven goals and 15 assists in 52 games.
"I think there's been moments in the second half where he's looked more like he did a year ago," Blashill said. "They have a little different lineup than they did a year ago. They had some real dynamic centers a year ago, they don't have the same dynamics up the middle this year. So that's important for a winger. That and how hard Evgeny is on himself, probably two things that set him back at the beginning of the year. He's had to claw his way out of it, but I know he made a comment to one of the guys on our coaching staff that he feels he's relaxed more now being up here and sometimes that's what it takes. The one thing I wanted to be cognizant of, too, is if you throw him too much too early when he's not ready for it, boy, it can crush your confidence. So we've piece-mealed it to him a little bit and he's done a good job as he's gained minutes."
Svechnikov acknowledges being hard on himself but said he is working on it.
"Just let it go," Svechnikov said. "Tell myself it's another day, another opportunity. There's nothing you can do about the past. Just focus on the present, right now, and the future. The main thing to me is just let it go, but that's the hardest part for myself, I feel. But I'm being way better and learning, too."
CATCHING UP WITH CRISCO: Svechnikov got to catch up with his former center on the Griffins, Kyle Criscuolo, Wednesday night.
The two had a nice reunion dinner along with Bertuzzi, Martin Frk and Joe Hicketts.
"It was amazing to see him," Svechnikov said. "We've been talking the whole year but didn't have a chance to see each other. I saw him and and said, 'We make it, bro. We are here.' I was so happy because we played the whole year last year and just being in the NHL right now, it's something that we didn't think about last year. He's my closest friend. It was good to see him."
Criscuolo was equally happy to see his former linemate and other former teammates.
"It's really good to see him, and Bertuzzi and Hicketts and Frky and all those guys," Criscuolo said. "It's awesome. It's weird talking about it at dinner. It's pretty cool that so many of us are up in the NHL and living our dream. It's been neat. I know he's been playing pretty well and he just wants to keep doing better every game."
Criscuolo had 17 goals and 24 assists for the Griffins last season, many of those assists on Svechnikov's goals.
"He brings it every night," Criscuolo said. "He's a real competitive kid and he's really strong. When you talk to him on the bench, he's super creative and it was a lot of fun for both of us first year really trying to establish ourselves in the league, working hard in practice and games every day. I think we can relate to each other quite a bit."
Criscuolo made his NHL debut in Detroit Nov. 17.
He just rejoined the Sabres after suffering an upper-body injury in a collision with Toronto's Matt Martin on March 5.
Criscuolo had 15 goals and 19 assists in 50 games with the Sabres' AHL affiliate, the Rochester Amerks.
Aside from the injury, Criscuolo has been pleased with this season.
"Pretty good. Obviously got some NHL games, which is awesome, and everything in Rochester has been really good as well," Criscuolo said. "The team has been playing really well. So it's been a lot of fun. Pretty much as good as I could have anticipated."
Of course, when you win a championship together, as Criscuolo did with the Griffins last season, there's a bond that can never be broken.
"No doubt about it. It speaks for itself having all those guys up, obviously we were a really good team," Criscuolo said. "I think all those guys are going to have long NHL careers and it was just really cool to have that my first year, to be on such a good team."