Byram thinks he's the most talented player in any game, when he's probably somewhere around 8-10 on any given night. This tends to be a tough thing for a lot of players to get.
In a different way, think about Newhook. His whole career, he was a better skater than anybody else that touched the ice that night. This allowed him to shine above and utilize his other above average to good skills. Yet as he progressed up, those skills were not good enough overcome his loss of skating margin. Once you get to the NHL where half the league is as good of skater as him, and many of them bigger and more talented, he didn't have anything to separate at a high level. He doesn't have the skating to be a plus guy at center so the other skills have to shine... when they don't he's about as bland as it gets. You give him less ice, with less responsibility on the wing with somebody clearing some space, he can be a good complimentary winger with a plus shot and give you good transition speed.
Byram has this issue as a defensemen, but he's not settling into his strengths yet. Part of that has to be coaching, part has to be Byram.
Not finished, but it isn't like he's super young or inexperienced. Luke Hughes is showing flashes of taking control and he just turned 20. Seider is already a #1. Sanderson looks like a #1D at 21. Mid first guys like Guhle, York, Harley, Schneider, etc don't look far off. Byram as a top 5 pick should (rightfully) be expected to be in that Hughes/Seider/Sanderson conversation.
