The only way to properly break down two separate deals where the Avalance send out a centre, and then bring in another centre is to combine them into one recap.

Colorado swung two back-to-back deals that addressed areas of concern at centre and right defence. The first of which was sending Ryan Johansen out as a cap dump to the Flyers and getting Sean Walker in return, which helps them balance out the handedness of their defence core.

Here are the details:

The Avalanche then turned around and flipped Bowen Byram to Buffalo for Casey Mittelstadt, upgrading at centre, and dealing from a surplus of left defencemen.

The Sabres got helped clear some space for their stocked pipeline up front, though they created another log jam at left defence, where they now have four very good players (Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, and Owen Power).

The Flyers look to have had the tidiest piece of business out of this all, taking on some (dead) cap, and getting the first that they wanted for Sean Walker.

What the Avalanche Get:

Casey Mittelstadt is a real 2^nd line centre for them, and that will make a huge difference to the team in stretching out the lineup with everyone healthy, and pushing Ross Colton down to a third-line role where he is better suited.

Mittelstadt won't kick the big guns off the top power play, but he gives a different look that could cycle onto the top unit, or more likely help give the second unit some more dynamism, similar to his role in Buffalo. The supporting cast is just a little better in Colorado, which will be the main impact on him.

On defence, Walker helps support Josh Manson as the more defence-focused bleuliners, which only helps the puck-movers, and take some pressure off of trying to manage matchups with the third pairing. It may be a downgrade from Bowen Byram in the long-term on defence, but overall in the short-term it won't affect much.

What the Flyers Get:

The Flyers get some clarity on defence, along with another first round pick. The open slot on defence will be filled by Adam Ginning and/or Emil Andrae, who both looked solid in camp and could be competing now for the advantage going into camp in the fall. Ryan Johansen could also be built back into a trade chip at the deadline next year a-la Sean Monahan, or he could just be buried and would only cost the team money.

What the Sabres Get:

There had been rumblings for a while now that Casey Mittelstadt was being shopped, and regardless whether it was the contract negotiations or just a desire to reallocate assets, the move was made to send him out in a one-for-one swap to bring back Bowen Byram. Byram joins a left-shot heavy crew as mentioned above, but most of the group has experience to some extent, of shifting over to the right side. The skill and the hockey sense of this young defence core is going to help them make the playoffs sooner rather than later (but not this year) and it will be a boon for their goalies too.

Peyton Krebs gets the first shot to move up the lineup at centre, though Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund, and others will be close behind. Krebs has had some fantastic possession numbers thus far in his career, but we have yet to see the scoring numbers catch up. This might be his best shot.

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Who benefits the most:

Casey Mittelstadt

Sean Walker

Peyton Krebs

Remaining Flyers defencemen

Buffalo goalies

Whose value takes a hit:

Owen Power

Bowen Byram

Ross Colton