Two defensemen dealt by Buffalo before the draft received pricey extensions from their new clubs
The Buffalo Sabres are entering the July 1 Free Agent Frenzy in need of replacing the scoring and leadership that departed when Alex Tuch went to Washington last week, but it is unknown what direction GM Jarmo Kekalainen will after 12 Noon on Wednesday. Kekalainen was proactive prior to last weekend’s NHL Draft when he dealt defenseman Bowen Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks, along with winger Jordan Greenway for the fourth overall pick (Daxon Rudolph), a 2026 second round pick (later flipped to Anaheim for Olen Zellweger) and defenseman Louis Crevier.
Byram is in the second year of a two-year, $12.5 million bridge deal. Buffalo GM Jarmo Kekalainen indicated that he was interested in extending him coming off a career-high 42-point season. Still, there have been indicators that he is either looking for a new deal well out of the Sabres price range or that he wanted to go to another team where he could be the #1 defenseman.
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On Wednesday, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that the 25-year-old will sign a six-year, $75 million deal with the Hawks, becoming the top-paid defenseman in the NHL, ahead of Erik Karlsson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Drew Doughty. That distinction may be short-lived because Minnesota is expected to sign Quinn Hughes to a short-term deal and Cale Makar is eligible for an extension, but the point here is that the Sabres were in no position to pay Byram more than Dahlin on a new deal, even if the percentage of the salary cap was lower.
Byram’s new deal comes on the heels of the extension of another former Sabres blueliner in Michael Kesselring. The 26-year-old was sent to the San Jose Sharks, along with the Sabres 27th overall pick for the 20th pick in the first round (Ilia Morozov). On the weekend, the Sharks locked up Kesselring on a three-year, $13.5 million extension ($4.5 million AAV). The deal is a sign of the times in terms of the salary cap going up, and the fact that the Sharks were desperate for defensive help, that they tripled the righty blueliner’s salary coming off a career-worst season in which he had just two assists in 34 games.
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