Mittelstadt's injury timeline began on opening night, when he was forced to leave Buffalo's game against Montreal due to an upper-body ailment. He returned to the lineup on Dec. 2 and played three games before undergoing surgery.
The forward returned a second time on Jan. 25, appearing in two full games before exiting after the first period in Colorado on Jan. 30. He resumed skating on his own during the All-Star break.
"He had fluid in there, which we didn't know until we got some more imaging," Granato said. "So, he had something nagging him that was a repercussion of the surgery and the rehab coming back in and they've taken care of that. It's obviously that was the hindrance the last time through this."
Video: PRACTICE REPORT
Mittelstadt was listed as week to week on the Sabres' injury report released Tuesday. Granato said he could be upgraded to day to day provided he has a positive response to Friday's session.
"I'm hoping so," Granato said. "I'll talk to him and our medical guys after this. It was a major jump to go from a yellow jersey the other day after day one into a full practice today, which is really nice. It's an indication that yes, he could be in a day-to-day situation.
"… I want to make sure we don't rush him back into it. He rushed back into it before, but he had that fluid buildup, which we couldn't have predicted. So, it looks like he rushed into it, but I think through that process he's learned, 'I want to make sure I can play the way I want to play.' We want him to do that too."
Here are more notes from Friday's practice.
Don Granato's younger sister, Cammi, was named as assistant general manager with the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. Cammi, a Hockey Hall of Famer and Olympic gold medalist with Team USA, was previously the first female professional scout in NHL history with the Seattle Kraken.
"Pretty excited for her," Don Granato said. "She's worked hard. She's endured a lot. I read a couple of her quotes that were kind of funny and sad all in one. She's earned her way up physically, emotionally, everything.
"… She's worked hard for it. I'm excited for her. Obviously, I've talked to her a lot. I've talked to her a lot more in the last week as she's headed into this. I couldn't be happier for her. I think she's surrounded by lots of good people there, which is also a key to this whole thing."
Video: AFTER PRACTICE: Granato
Kyle Okposo brought the Sabres to a huddle at center ice at the conclusion of practice. He was asked afterward about his message to the team.
Check out his answer in the below tweet.
Tweet from @BuffaloSabres: Okie crackin��� jokes 😏 pic.twitter.com/NQWI3qVQPC
Here's how the group lined up, with Mittelstadt rotating in among the forwards:
| February 11 |
| --- |
| LW | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 19 Peyton Krebs | 24 Dylan Cozens | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 74 Rasmus Asplund | 20 Cody Eakin | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| 96 Anders Bjork | 17 Mark Jankowski | 15 John Hayden |
| | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | |
| LD | RD | G |
| 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 41 Craig Anderson |
| 8 Robert Hagg | 13 Mark Pysyk | 31 Dustin Tokarski |
| 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 45 Casey Fitzgerald | |
| | 78 Jacob Bryson | |
