The 23-year-old Cup winner has one year left on bridge deal at $3.85 million
The landscape of contract negotiations is ever-changing in the NHL, and what other teams do with their players affects how the Buffalo Sabres manage their roster. This week, the Minnesota Wild extended defenseman Brock Faber on an eight-year, $68 million contract extension and on Wednesday, the Montreal Canadiens locked up 22-year-old Kaiden Guhle, on a six-year, $33.3 million deal.
Faber was a finalist for the Calder Trophy and finished second behind Connor Bedard. He signed a max deal comparable to the extension signed last September by Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson, while Guhle scored 22 points in his first full season with the Habs.
GM Kevyn Adams in the last few years has locked up defensemen Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson on long-term deals, and added to his blueline by acquiring Bowen Byram from Colorado for Casey Mittelstadt in March. The deal bought Adams some time, as Mittelstadt was a restricted free agent this summer and one year from unrestricted free agency.
Byram has a year remaining on his contract and the Sabres have two more years of control before he becomes a UFA, but it would not be surprising if the club would look to extend the 23-year-old Stanley Cup winner.
“Philosophically, we are always open to (signing them to extensions) and I've talked to I believe all the players (and) their agents this summer," Adams said in June. "We're always open. We've done it before, but we've also gone the other way. Right now, I wouldn't anticipate that we'll go down that road this summer, but we could change. It's always about what's right for us and what's right for the player."
Adams signed goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to a five-year extension for a team-friendly $4.75 million cap hit, and besides Byram has wingers J-J Peterka and Jack Quinn entering the final years of their entry-level deals, but with the escalating prices for defensemen, Adams may want to prioritize getting Byram extended.
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