There had been some speculation after the end of their season that the Buffalo Sabres may be considering a major move involving restricted free agent Bowen Byram, and that continues to gain momentum as the Sabres defenseman was listed on Sportsnet’s Trade Board compiled by Nick Kypreos.
Byram was acquired in March 2024 in exchange for center Casey Mittelstadt and scored a career-high 38 points last season. That was an impressive feat since the Cup winner was seldom used on the power play and registered all but three of those points at even strength.
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Kypreos indicates that Sabres GM Kevyn Adams is exploring a further shakeup of the club’s core group that started with the trade sending center Dylan Cozens to Ottawa for Josh Norris in March, and there are indicators that Byram sees his road to being a top pairing blueliner blocked by team captain Rasmus Dahlin, 2021 top overall pick Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson, who are all left-handed and signed to long-term deals.
The Sabres are unlikely to sign another blueliner to a long-term deal for what it would cost them to extend Byram, since they would be allocating more than $30 million in cap space to their top four defensemen. The 23-year-old was connected to his hometown Vancouver Canucks in rumors during the season, which were linked to a potential Elias Pettersson trade. That deal is still possible, as Kypreos has Pettersson on his board as a possible trade candidate.
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