The Avalanche are acquiring center Charlie Coyle from the Bruins, Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic reports. Center Casey Mittelstadt is headed from Colorado to Boston in the deal, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. The Bruins are also receiving forward prospect Will Zellers and a second-round pick in the deal, according to Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff. LeBrun adds the Avs are receiving a 2026 fifth-rounder along with Coyle, while the second-round pick heading to Boston is in this year’s draft.
The deal swaps middle-six centers heading in completely opposite directions. Coyle, fresh off his 33rd birthday, posted a career-high 60 points in Boston last season but has scored just 15-7–22 in 64 games this year with a career-worst -14 rating. He’s signed through next season at a $5.25MM cap hit, a big risk for the Avs if there’s no salary retention and his play can’t rebound in what’s sure to be a reduced role behind Nathan MacKinnon and yesterday’s pickup Brock Nelson down the middle.
Coyle does bring an upgrade to Colorado’s third line in terms of overall experience and past performance, which is what the Avs are banking on despite his poor showing on a thin Bruins offense this year. He also brings some slight cap savings down the line – he costs $500K less against the cap than Mittelstadt and is signed for one less season. It’s worth noting he’s been quite the playoff performer in his career, posting 25-27–52 in 119 postseason games. He’s yet to miss the playoffs, going in six straight years with Minnesota and then another six with Boston. He’ll extend it to 13 years in a row in Denver.
Boston lands a much younger pivot in Mittelstadt, who hasn’t quite reached Coyle’s 60-point pinnacle but did reach 59 and 57 points the last two seasons. He hasn’t taken nearly as large a step back as Coyle this season, but it’s still been quite the difficult season. Mittelstadt has 11-23–34 through 63 games for the Avs, who acquired him at last year’s deadline in a major swap with the Sabres for Bowen Byram. Only 25 of those points have come at even strength, he’s won just 42.4% of his faceoffs, and his relative possession impacts are the worst they’ve been in five years. He wasn’t the reliable second-line center Colorado hoped they were getting last year, so they opted to acquire the veteran Nelson and Coyle while flipping Mittelstadt less than a year after signing him to a three-year, $17.25MM deal.
The mismatch in futures heading to the Bruins from the Avs is still surprising. Mittelstadt is seven years younger than Coyle and still has 60-point potential, and he’s a skilled sniper with a nearly 12% shooting rate. While a less reliable two-way presence than Coyle, who landed Selke Trophy votes for the first time last season, his age and contract align better with Boston’s now clear plan to retool their roster over the coming years. With Trent Frederic already out the door, Mittelstadt should easily fit into a top-six role for Boston down the stretch, although his poor faceoff showings may necessitate a shift to the wing to get him that ice time.
Boston picks up a fairly intriguing prospect in the 18-year-old Zellers. Selected in the third round of last year’s draft by the Avs out of prep school Shattuck St. Mary’s, the 5’11” center/winger jumped to the United States Hockey League for major junior play this year and hasn’t disappointed. In 40 games with the Green Bay Gamblers, the speedy forward leads the team in scoring with 37-21–58. He’s the high-energy, high-scoring type of prospect sorely missing from the Bruins’ system, even if he’ll be a long-term project developmentally.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
This is an A+ deal for the Bruins…
A rare Don Sweeney trade win.
Sweeney pulled one out of his hat, He must have been sleep walking.
Only to immediately ruin the moment by giving away Marchand to the Panthers for virtually nothing.
True. Marchand will resign with Boston in July.
Zellers, 2nd and Mittelstadt for Coyle
Ryan Lindgren’s reunion with his golf buddy lasted one week, lol!
Wow. Now this one is a huge overpay
Love this move for Boston …waiting for them though to blow a trade in this last hour
I’d say the Marchand trade qualifies.
Are we sure this is an overpay? Slight increase in production for no defence or toughness…. Coyle can play 3C and thrive, he’s not a 2C, neither is mitts
I think it’s a drastic overpay. Even if Coyle is worth more to Colorado than Mittelstadt, isn’t really worth a 2nd and Zellers? I’d rather bet on Mittelstadt figuring it out anyways than a declining Coyle.
Is it*
Boston could be considered the winner in this deal getting future assets & Casey Mittelstadt from Colorado. Mittelstadt gets a fresh start.
Charlie Coyle seems to have declined this year. But for Colorado, Coyle could be an improvement over Mittelstadt which apparently wasn’t working out anymore.
Boston makes the fleecing of the deadline in a deadline full of fleecings
Nah, Florida pulled off the fleecing of the deadline by robbing Marchand for a single 2027 second round pick.
I think a lot of people will be on here next year glad that Boston moved mitts and happy they got something for him. Maybe two years.
I would have thought the Bruins did pretty well with a straight up trade. But getting a second AND a top prospect in return? Are they all smoking whacky weed up in Denver?
Gbear bringing the real important knowledge.