Luke Mittelstadt may be a defenseman, but he’s showing off incredible offensive talent in the AHL with the Laval Rocket.
If he keeps it up, the Montreal Canadiens may have no choice but to give him a promotion to the NHL level.
For now, Laval will happily keep Mittelstadt around as he lights up the AHL leaderboard. He leads the entire league in points despite being a defenseman.
Through seven games, Mittelstadt has four goals and 10 assists for 14 points. He’s holding off another defenseman, Coachella Valley’s Tyson Jugnauth, for the league lead in points. Jugnauth has done it entirely with 13 assists and no goals up to this point.
Mittelstadt had 10 points through five games, averaging two a night, but it seemed he’d have to slow down at some point, right? Well, maybe not. He’s picked up four points in the next two games as well.
Who is Luke Mittelstadt?
Luke Mittelstadt started off as a juniors player in the USHL, first for the Lincoln Stars and then the Madison Capitols.
With Madison in 2021-22, he had 55 points in 60 games with 19 goals and 36 assists.
The Canadiens picked Mittelstadt in the seventh round of the 2023 NHL Draft, not a stage that produces many eventual NHL contributors.
To continue his development, Mittelstadt went to the college hockey ranks with the University of Minnesota for four years. He scored between 18 and 21 points in all four of his seasons with the Golden Gophers.
In his final season on campus, Mittelstadt had two goals and 19 assists for 21 points in 36 games.
At 23 years old and just 5-foot-11, Mittelstadt may not be a future NHL star, but he’s pushed his stock up considerably with this hot start to the season — and at some point, a player who keeps scoring points will earn a next-level look.
The Canadiens have a ton of young talent, much of which has been more highly regarded than Mittelstadt was — but at the moment, he is putting everyone on notice.
Is Luke Related to Casey Mittelstadt?
Luke Mittelstadt is the younger brother of current Boston Bruins center Casey Mittelstadt.
They also have a brother John, who played at Minnesota with Luke.
There’s a scenario down the road where the defenseman Luke makes it to the NHL and then gets a chance to play against his older brother Casey in a classic Boston-Montreal rivalry clash that would have a Habs blue liner matched up with his forward brother from the Bruins.
For now, Luke Mittelstadt will keep doing his best to impress in the hopes of earning his first call-up.
Canadiens’ Luke Mittelstadt Continues To Make NHL Promotion Case