- TSN’s Darren Dreger reports multiple teams have asked the Sabres about defenseman Bowen Byram
- Byram has one year left at a $6.25 million cap hit before he can reach free agency in 2027
- Read below for what’s driving Buffalo’s latest round of trade chatter
Buffalo just moved one defenseman this week. They might not be done.
TSN’s Darren Dreger reported Thursday that multiple teams have checked in with Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen about a trade for Bowen Byram.
Dreger pointed to the contract as the reason this is even a conversation. The 25-year-old has one season left on his deal at a $6.25 million cap hit, and he can hit unrestricted free agency on July 1, 2027. Dreger also noted that Byram’s agent, Darren Ferris, has a history of walking clients to the open market.
This came two days after Kekalainen shipped Michael Kesselring to San Jose to jump from No. 27 to No. 20 in this month’s draft.
Byram is no stranger to the trade block. Colorado took him fourth overall in 2019, and he won a Cup in Denver before the Avalanche flipped him to Buffalo for Casey Mittelstadt.
He’s been durable and productive since landing in western New York. Byram played all 82 games in each of his two full seasons with the Sabres and set career highs both times, climbing from 38 points in 2024-25 to 42 this past season.
Byram’s underlying numbers are the one knock. He posted a 48.36 percent expected goals share at five-on-five this season on a team that ran 53.68 percent as a whole. The raw tools are there for a contender that thinks it can pull more out of him.
The Sabres reached the second round for the first time in over a decade before Montreal knocked them out. Byram can sign an extension as early as July 1, and if he doesn’t, his name is going to keep surfacing.
