What Bowen Byram Will Bring to the Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres threw the hockey world into a frenzy with their Tuesday blockbuster trade, with the Sabres sending defenseman Bowen Byram and forward Jordan Greenway to the Blackhawks for the fourth and 45th overall picks in this year’s draft and defenseman Louis Crevier. 

The Blackhawks needed to make a move, and that move finally came. What does it mean for them, and what can Chicago expect to get out of this in the future? 

What Byram Brings to the Blackhawks

Byram is 25 years old and will be playing on his third NHL team. His name is on the Stanley Cup, as he won it with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, and in that run, led all the Avalanche defensemen in plus/minus with a plus-15 rating. He was traded to the Sabres for Casey Mittelstadt, then re-signed for two years after his first season on a deal with a $6.25 million annual average value (AAV), but only ended up fulfilling one year of that contract. 

Last season, Byram had a career-high 42 points (11 goals and 32 assists) along with a plus-15 rating (he set a career high in 2024-25 with 38 points the season before), which would’ve led the Blackhawks defenders last season by a large margin. He also played in 13 contests over two rounds in this year’s playoffs before a Game 7 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round, tallying four goals and three assists for seven points in that run. 

Byram coming in officially ends the revolving door of first-line power-play quarterbacks, as from forwards to defenders, the Blackhawks tried and tried and always found themselves back at square one. With Connor Bedard, Anton Frondell’s one-timer, Tyler Bertuzzi coming off a 30-goal season in front of the net, and Byram as the quarterback, the first tandem should be a lot of fun to watch. Byram likes to shoot the puck from the left point and left wall, can move the puck really well, should be able to kickstart the offensive rush a lot faster, and get up into the play more, which will all take pressure off the forwards.

Byram, most importantly, comes into next season as the best defender on the team. With the Avalanche, he was behind Cale Makar, and on the Sabres, he was behind Rasmus Dahlin; he has never had the chance to be a true number-one defender yet, and with Chicago, he’ll finally get that opportunity. With him setting career highs the last two seasons, about to get the biggest role he has had in his NHL career so far, he shouldn’t have much difficulty putting more points on the board than ever before. 

A problem, though, is that the Blackhawks still lack a steady defensive defenseman, as Byram isn’t great in his own end. While Wyatt Kaiser and Alex Vlasic attempted to fill that void and did an alright job, getting one in free agency to help stabilize the core should be a priority. 

Impact of the Price 

General manager (GM) Kyle Davidson might’ve waited a little too long to make this trade. He almost waited until his hands were tied and he had to do something in a seller’s market; prices were sky high, and still are. For someone who said that he wanted to make a splash, it would’ve been in his best interest to pick up the phone a day or two before. The San Jose Sharks and the New York Rangers had serious offers for Byram by the time he pulled the trigger. 

It was an overpay, and there’s no way around it. The fourth-overall pick, 45th-overall pick, and the best defender on the team last season is a lot. However, if you’re going to draft a defenseman with the fourth-overall pick on Friday anyway, why not get someone who can help the team right now and start going on the road towards a future playoff spot? It’s going to be at least two seasons by the time a 2026 pick comes to the NHL, and then another couple until they start getting comfortable on the ice. Ivar Stenberg wasn’t an option anymore after the San Jose Sharks dealt William Eklund to the Ottawa Senators; it seems like many scouts aren’t very high on this draft with all of the picks flying around, either.

This is a wait-and-see deal for both sides. The Sabres will draft someone and wait for them to develop (or trade the pick), and the Blackhawks are taking a swing on Byram. Losing Crevier is what really stings out of this whole trade, as he led the defensive core in points last season with 25 and was fun to watch, especially with his 6-foot-8, 228-pound frame; all we can hope is that Davidson did all he could to keep him. 

Davidson did do something GMs never do, though, and that’s trading a top-five draft pick. The last time it was done was in 2008. In his press conference, Davidson said he paid a premium for Byram in the hopes of him becoming a true number-one defender, and that’s also why Byram wanted to come to Chicago: to have an opportunity at being the top guy on a blue line. Plus, having that on the shoulders of someone who has 300-plus NHL games played is way easier than having that on the shoulders of the likes of Artyom Levshunov. This transaction will take a lot of pressure off of Levshunov and even Sam Rinzel; that’s really important and probably the most-overlooked part in all this. 

A positive to this is that Bedard seems to be on board with the move. After he was traded, Byram said that Bedard gave him a call and told him how excited he was to play with him. With negotiations for his new contract looming, anything that keeps Bedard enthusiastically encouraged about the future is a very good thing. However, Bedard still needs a winger. 

Either way, this is the first huge swing by Davidson to actually improve and not tear down. Fans should be excited about that. You have to give to get, and both teams shipped important pieces. All we can do now is root for Byram and see how the trade plays out.