Confirmed Trade: [CHI/BUF] Bowen Byram, Jordan Greenway for Louis Crevier, 2026 1st round pick (4th overall), 2026 2nd round pick (45th overall)

[Oddbob]

Are Buffalo fans happy with this? For me I feel like it isn't close to what Byram brings.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Last time a Top 5 pick was traded deliberately, Bowen Byram was 7.

He had just turned a year old the last time a player was involved in the trade lol.

 

[King In The North]

Are Buffalo fans happy with this? For me I feel like it isn't close to what Byram brings.

Uhhh, we talking about the same Byram correct?

 

[Oddbob]

How does Kyle Davidson still have a job?

If you get a player as good as Byram at 4 you got a good player anyhow.

 

[McJedi]

How about this for Byram....

He goes to Buffalo and they are a 'rebuilding' team spinning their wheels trying to take the next step... he slogs through some difficult years then once they finally breakthrough and are a great team.... he's traded to another team in the same position Buffalo was in when he got there.

I'm sure he's happy with the opportunity to lead a Dcore. Its an interesting thought tho.

Chicago has to do more now I'd think. This is a great piece but it isn't going to be enough.

Bowen Byram has his name on the Stanley Cup. Has this been forgotten.

He was fantastic for the Avs that season. Especially in the playoffs. He played 26 minutes in game 6 when they won the Cup. Had some crazy +4 goal expectation in that game.

 

[10YearsAfter]

this was a fine trade - until i learned that Crevier was included. GMkd done f'd up

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

It's the deeply discounted version of a Temu Coffey-to-Pittsburgh deal. I'm sure Bedard is happy though as he'll have someone jumpstarting the offense and helping rove to keep play alive in the offensive zone.

I actually really like Byram, and I think its a good target for Chicago, just a bit of a steep price.

They gotta do more though, can't just stop there. Ideally another Top 4 D and an upgrade at middle 6C.

Here's another one... Its funny how Chicago originally passed on Byram in 2019, now they are acquiring him all these years later... they really shouldn't have rushed Dach he actually could've been a really good player for them imo. Alas..

 

[Puckstopper]

Are Buffalo fans happy with this? For me I feel like it isn't close to what Byram brings.

He wasn't happy, a year out from UFA and they wouldn't be able to pay him what he wanted. This is an absurd return, they should be jumping for joy that teams like Chicago are in the league.

 

[Oddbob]

Uhhh, we talking about the same Byram correct?

Yes a very good defender. 42 pts with 2nd pair pp time. He now moves to top pair and even more minutes with Bedard.

 

[Aashir]

You could make the case Byram was better than Toews when the Avs won the Cup. He was better than Toews in the finals vs Tampa.

He has promise no doubt, and he was very promising back then too….but he’s not reached his potential..

Still don’t believe he’s worth 12.5M…at around 8-9M that’s fine to bet on the upside…

For him to be worth 12.5M he’s gotta be a 70 point defencemen and I can’t see him doing that

 

[Dirty Dog]

Bowen Byram has his name on the Stanley Cup. Has this been forgotten.

He was fantastic for the Avs that season. Especially in the playoffs. He played 26 minutes in game 6 when they won the Cup. Had some crazy +4 goal expectation in that game.

The highs of Byram are pretty clear. He can be dominant.

It’s the lows and inconsistency that is the issue

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

Bowen Byram has his name on the Stanley Cup. Has this been forgotten.

He was fantastic for the Avs that season. Especially in the playoffs. He played 26 minutes in game 6 when they won the Cup. Had some crazy +4 goal expectation in that game.

I love Byram. If you read that as a knock of him you are wrong. I remember watching him drive the Giants to the WHL final his draft year. Yes he was outstanding for Colorado I agree.

 

[Chainshot]

Are Buffalo fans happy with this? For me I feel like it isn't close to what Byram brings.

So far, happy, yeah. Still waiting to find out what other moves they are up to though.

 

[King In The North]

Yes a very good defender. 42 pts with 2nd pair pp time. He now moves to top pair and even more minutes with Bedard.

And you don't think any of the top 5 picks can even come close to 40 points, 2nd PP time. With way less money.

 

[McJedi]

The difference between 4th and 9th is pretty big to me...I don't hate the Eklund deal personally.

Eklund feels like a so so at best deal for Ottawa. He isn’t going to be able to carry a line or a team. He’s a second line winger and only a so so one at that.

 

[Mattilaus]

Yes a very good defender. 42 pts with 2nd pair pp time. He now moves to top pair and even more minutes with Bedard.

That's fine, but that's all he ever would have been in Buffalo because he isn't taking Dahlin's spot. He wants 10m plus. We can't be paying our 3rd or arguably 4th best D man 10m a year to get 40 points and play on the 2nd pp unit. So he had to go, and we got crazy value for him.

 

[Schennanigans]

Chicago must not like the players in the draft. Only thing that would make sense to do this.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

It's not an NHL draft without the Sabres in the top ten.

 

[Oddbob]

He wasn't happy, a year out from UFA and they wouldn't be able to pay him what he wanted. This is an absurd return, they should be jumping for joy that teams like Chicago are in the league.

You know that many drafts you don't get much better than Byram for 4? Do all these over-raters of draft picks on HF ever go back and look at the draft history for the whole league?

If you back to the very first draft and look at any draft, there are about 30 good players at most, and by the time you hit 20 deep in many drafts you are already at names that aren't that exciting or even good. That is over 200 names each year for a lot of years and you barely have one round worth of good stuff. There are 3rd and 4th line grinders who end up being 20th-30th best in their draft year.

 

[Dirty Dog]

as a Sabres fan, I’d rather of Byram stayed and signed a reasonable longterm deal around 7m and be happy on the second pairing. But since that wasn’t an option, you can’t ask for much better of a haul

 

[AquiliniHurtsMySoul]

Chicago must not like the players in the draft. Only thing that would make sense to do this.

Still doesn't make sense

 

[joepeps]

That's fine, but that's all he ever would have been in Buffalo because he isn't taking Dahlin's spot. He wants 10m plus. We can't be paying our 3rd or arguably 4th best D man 10m a year to get 40 points and play on the 2nd pp unit. So he had to go, and we got crazy value for him.

but hes also going to now face 1st pairing competition and top PP units.

 

[McJedi]

He has promise no doubt, and he was very promising back then too….but he’s not reached his potential..

Still don’t believe he’s worth 12.5M…at around 8-9M that’s fine to bet on the upside…

For him to be worth 12.5M he’s gotta be a 70 point defencemen and I can’t see him doing that

He’s worth at least what Power makes. I’d say 8 x $10mm would be the number. $8mm is definitely too low. He’d easily fetch more as a UFA.

Byram just turned 25 a few days ago. That’s it. Even an 8 year deal won’t run much past his prime.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Trading picks has nothing to do with quality of the draft. It's GMs thinking that Free Agency won't have many options available, and as a result, they're paying a premium to secure options ahead of time.

It can be both. It's also a terrible FA class.

IIRC there hasn't been a top 10 pick traded pre-draft in the three drafts before this. You don't think that the quality of this one has anything to do with the trades we've seen this week? Hope springs eternal for fans but there's lots of scouts not very high on this class generally.

I think there is 5-6 really good players at the top of the draft though. McKenna, Stenberg, Malhotra, Reid, Bjorck, Carels. All could be 1st line players. To get one of those picks and then add ontop of it is pretty crazy.

I agree the 7-15 picks are often overrated value-wise in the public eye though. Its probably good we are seeing them start to move again. If you can get a top line player those 6-10 picks definitely aren't as valuable.

Could be being the key qualifier here. Even Stenberg and McKenna have some significant flaws that might hold them back from being stars.

 

[VanillaCoke]

Jeez that's a yikes for hawks fans holay