Update: The Buffalo Sabres have signed Bowen Byram to a two-year contract with an AAV of $6.25 million.
On a recent edition of NHL Tonight with Mike Johnson, EJ Hradek, and Ken Daneyko on NHL Network, they discuss Bowen Byram and the Buffalo Sabres. Byram is heading to player-elected arbitration as he is looking for a new deal and a trade out of Buffalo. Where can Byram go and what could he get?
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
The Buffalo Sabres Have To Stop The Endless Rebuild
Mike Johnson: “Maybe the most interesting one of all is that we saw Bowen Byram on the player-elected arbitration because he wants to make sure he gets a deal and doesn’t get held out too long. But it feels like his time in Buffalo has maybe run its course, not because he’s not good, not because he’s not a good guy and a good teammate. It’s just that he’s got (Rasmus) Dahlin ahead of him and (Owen) Power ahead of him, and he’s a left shot as well.
He doesn’t get to play maybe quite the quality of minutes that he wants even though he plays quite a few minutes, and given what we’ve seen defensemen get on the market EJ, when I see (Ivan) Provorov’s numbers and the (Vladislav) Gavrikov’s numbers, and puck moving guys are not that available at his age, with his numbers, who’s won a cup, you wonder what the market would be.
And people being tossed around contracts for him upwards of $9 million per year, which at first blush to me, it’s like, that’s a lot, but you start running the comps, and maybe it doesn’t become that. You wonder if this is one of the moves at Buffalo, who are in the market to change the look and feel their team might look to move him, and how many teams can either add him?”
San Jose. The teams that have the space are not the problem.
NHL Rumors: What Team-Elected Salary Arbitration Means for Bowen Byram
Ken Daneyko: Not the teams that are as good, because so many teams are up against the cap don’t have that room, even though, after next year kind of lightens up and looks like it’s going to jump quite a bit. Obviously, the cap, that’s an interesting one. Johnny, you’re absolutely right. There’s just not enough room for all these $8, $9 million defensemen in Buffalo who’s trying to become a playoff team, and they’ve already got two of them.
Johnson: “You can’t pay a third pair guy $8 or $9 million, even with the cap going up. Wherever it’s going, but he’s not a third pair defenseman either. He’s better than that. Yeah. So it is interesting. And Kevyn Adams, who’s had to deal some really important players over the years, is gonna have to deal another one.
And he doesn’t want to see him skate off in the distance and have a great run somewhere else and have the guy who comes in, maybe not. He’s got to hit this trade, if he’s going to make it. He’s got to hit and hit it well and get a good return that could help him. He doesn’t want picks. He doesn’t want futures as he needs players who can help him today.”
EJ Hradek: “And yeah you’re right, because Bowen Byram is a really talented player. We saw how valuable he was with the Colorado Avalanche when he helped them win the Stanley Cup. He was a high draft pick. I think there’s still a high ceiling for him, but you’re right, if the Sabres are going to move him, they got to get something that can help them moving forward.”
NHLRumors.com Note: Bowen Byram, while he has not requested a trade formally out of Buffalo, is stuck playing his offside as a left-shot defenseman. He can’t thrive playing the right side as he still needs to develop. But he is not a third-pairing guy in Buffalo either. He was playing on the second pair in Colorado when they won the Stanley Cup. So, eventually, either Buffalo has to pay him or trade him.
NHL Rumors: Why Bowen Byram Wants Out of Buffalo, and the Teams Who Are Interested
GM Kevyn Adams made mistakes along the way, especially paying Mattias Samuelson as early as he did. So now the issue becomes what Adams can get for Byram. The Buffalo Sabres can’t win a Bowen Byram trade, but they have to get the best deal possible so the return is not questioned, as we saw with the J.J. Peterka trade. But Adams is not only hesitant to pay Byram, but also to trade him.
But the parties are heading to arbitration. It is interesting to see how things will play out.
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