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

[Habs Halifax]

They're probably discussing their marriage as we speak

I wonder if Bedard introduced Byram to his mom yet?

 

[Saskatoon]

Well I guess San Jose's GM is also brain dead as according to some reports, he made a substantial offer as well: 2 first round picks (# 9, 27) + a prospect. Could explain why Davidson gave up so much. I also think Chicago can use Greenway's size and PK ability. Also, Jarmo is known as a shrewd negotiator.

SJS wouldn't got higher than that though

#4 is worth a heck of a lot more than #9

The late first and early second are not that fair off in value

 

[LiseL]

They currently have $26m in cap space. This deal wasn’t the needle to get Tuch re-signed.

It is if the want to extend Zach Benson to a long-term deal which Jarmo stated is what he wants to do this off-season. They also have a couple of other players to sign who will expect raises.

 

[Kevin Musto]

I wonder if Bedard introduced Byram to his mom yet?

They're both from BC

Moms are probably enjoying mimosas together right now

 

[sansabri]

couldn't they just have drafted a d at #4

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Consider my flabbers gasted. Awful, awful trade for Chicago.

 

[LiseL]

Thomas was willing to go to Buffalo, that came out at the deadline.

Oh, I didn't hear about that, only heard that Parakyo might've waived if he had more time to think about it. If that was the case, then it was Armstrong who didn't want to trade him for what was being offered.

 

[Kevin Musto]

couldn't they just have drafted a d at #4

And wait 5 years for that player to maybe reach where Byram is currently at?

 

[x-bob]

Ridiculous. Who is going to play with Bedard?
I'm off the bandwagon of giving a crap what happens with the Hawks rebuild, bye.

You must not have noticed that they got Greenway in the trade to play with Bedard

 

[LiseL]

Do you realize how valuable having young contributing players playing well over their cap hit is to contending teams in terms of allowed them to retain players and keep their contention window open?

Especially for teams who are on most NTC/NMC.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Hawks are doing it wrong IMO. They should have taken Demidov to pair up with Bedard. Why? Because you have two exciting forwards that fans will come to watch while they still loose and gather more top 5 picks for 3-5 years or more. This lines up with business case and on ice long term game.

Proper rebuilds are not 3 years or less. They are 3-5 years or more. Keeping the team near the bottom as long as possible is the right strategy.

Hawks have lack of patience and it will result in middle of the pack strategy. Basically a Bergevin GM strategy

Not if you have the guy. Is Bedard that guy? Time will tell. Certainly had the hype of the guy, but so did Hall. He had that one MVP year, and just won the Cup at 34, but there's been a lot of eh, ok, the rest of the time.

What did Buffalo get out of being down there? Other than increasing criticism, what's Det got to show for being down there?

McDavid was playing playoff hockey in his 2nd year. They got LD the year before McDavid, but once they got the guy, they weren't doing their best to hang around the bottom of the league. Crosby, 2nd year in the playoffs. Again, picked their other guy the year before.

Well, Chi isn't playing that same game. There's no guy they drafted before Bedard. Have they gotten anyone in the two drafts since? Maybe. But they have to already pay Bedard, and they have somewhere around $25m in cap space after they do. Go get better. Who cares about the next 18 year old? Don't even know who he is yet.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Not if you have the guy. Is Bedard that guy? Time will tell. Certainly had the hype of the guy, but so did Hall. He had that one MVP year, and just won the Cup at 34, but there's been a lot of eh, ok, the rest of the time.

What did Buffalo get out of being down there? Other than increasing criticism, what's Det got to show for being down there?

McDavid was playing playoff hockey in his 2nd year. They got LD the year before McDavid, but once they got the guy, they weren't doing their best to hang around the bottom of the league. Crosby, 2nd year in the playoffs. Again, picked their other guy the year before.

Well, Chi isn't playing that same game. There's no guy they drafted before Bedard. Have they gotten anyone in the two drafts since? Maybe. But they have to already pay Bedard, and they have somewhere around $25m in cap space after they do. Go get better. Who cares about the next 18 year old? Don't even know who he is yet.

Look at the assets the Hawks had when the rebuild last time vs this time. You will see the difference.

Hawks have middle of the pack strategy. I'll eat crow if I'm wrong but that's the direction I see them heading in.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

And wait 5 years for that player to maybe reach where Byram is currently at?

Byram was helping the Avalanche within 2 years to help win the Cup. He was averaging a little over 20 minutes a game when they won back in 2022.

It's an awful trade by the Blackhawks. The Sabres lost Kesselring to the Sharks and basically found a replacement for free with Crevier too. Byram is a good player and has value. Funny enough he was a 4th overall pick in the 2019 Draft.

Chicago was probably better off just trying to draft a better defensman than Byram or taking a forward like Malohtra at #4.

 

[sansabri]

And wait 5 years for that player to maybe reach where Byram is currently at?

dmen do take longer to develop but that's a hell of a price to pay for byram. i hope he works out for the hawks

 

[LiseL]

Okay just fyi.

Crevier is big. What he is not is physical. He gets consistently moved around by guys who are like 5’10. And he doesn’t hit anyone. Just so no one is disappointed that he’s in fact a big teddy bear on the ice.

If he realizes that all teams like a little snarl and physicality in big D men, his stock and AAV will rise dramatically.

 

[DFF]

And wait 5 years for that player to maybe reach where Byram is currently at?

They have plenty of time. It’s not like they are ready to win anytime soon

And where Byram is at is pretty underwhelming. You would expect most 4th overall picks will turn out better.

 

[Kevin Musto]

And where Byram is at is pretty underwhelming. You would expect most 4th overall picks will turn out better.

Except they don't

 

[nmgrbhfn]

I take this trade as likely confirmation that McKenna, Stenberg and Malhotra will be gone by 4 so the Hawks are trading a future NHL dman for a current one. I wanted them to offer sheet Nemec but that would have cost next year's Hawks pick so the management wants hopefully three picks in the derby for DuPont.

Would the board rather have Byram than Nemec? Hopefully Byram stays healthy.

Kaiser I take will be his partner and Kaiser should view this as a great chance to take a step up. Management thought Kaiser was rounding into form at the end of the season. In addition, Byram is a high pedigree pro and that will shake things up which I like.

 

[Hull2Roenick2Kane]

I wonder if Bedard introduced Byram to his mom yet?

oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me. It was Kyle Davidson's bright idea to start the moms on the road trip thing and Bedards mom went and got hammered at the hotel bar with the other moms, when Mr Perry walks in and something "happens".

 

[Hull2Roenick2Kane]

Don't see why. Hawks still have $30.8M in cap space this season and that's with the inclusion of Greenway's $4M, Byram's $6.5M and the potential bonuses for the upcoming season. Other than Bedard, they only have 2 UFA's and 2 RFA's to sign, assuming they re-sign the UFA's. Next year's cap is rising by another $10M. May be a moot point as many stars now want only bridge deals to maximize their earning potential in a rising cap world.

next year the Hawks have a ton of RFAs that need to be signed or can be signed. AFP says Greene Moore Rinzel Levshunov and Kaiser will cost around 22 million per season and Byram another 9-12 million, 20 million of that will come off the books. That's not including Bedard and Korchinski this year. The following year its Frondell and Lardis, then Kansterov.

This could go south very quickly with a stupid GM.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

I don't hate it for Sabres.

 

[Hull2Roenick2Kane]

Well I guess San Jose's GM is also brain dead as according to some reports, he made a substantial offer as well: 2 first round picks (# 9, 27) + a prospect. Could explain why Davidson gave up so much. I also think Chicago can use Greenway's size and PK ability. Also, Jarmo is known as a shrewd negotiator.

yes he is. Byram was one year from UFA and didnt want to go back. Somehow Buffalo got a bidding war out of a guy who didnt want to be there. That is an incredible GM.

They should be desperate. In the 3 years of Bedard, where they've wasted his entire precious ELC contract, they are not the worst team over that time span because of 4 regulation wins. The lowest scoring team over the last 3 years. The 2nd worst defensive team. 2nd worst record, 3rd worst offense, and 6th worst defense last year, so not all that different than the 3 collective years.

Byram may or may not be the guy to spend that on, but they have to start doing something. Time to add actual players. They have three 1sts next year. Trade those too. You don't have forever. The years start going by quickly.

Davidson has no vision. He cant build the team. He should have built it around Bedard from day one, or stayed the course and let the kids grow. Hes trying to do both now and it cost him. Byram was on the trade block for two years and he could have got him cheaper without getting into a biding war when his stock was much lower. Great GMs dont buy high.

Hawks are doing it wrong IMO. They should have taken Demidov to pair up with Bedard. Why? Because you have two exciting forwards that fans will come to watch while they still loose and gather more top 5 picks for 3-5 years or more. This lines up with business case and on ice long term game.

Proper rebuilds are not 3 years or less. They are 3-5 years or more. Keeping the team near the bottom as long as possible is the right strategy.

Hawks have lack of patience and it will result in middle of the pack strategy. Basically a Bergevin GM strategy

It gets even worse. Chicago traded FOUR second round picks to move up twice in the first round of 2024 to draft Sasha Boisvert. Do you know who was drafted in the second round of 2024? COLE HUTSON.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

Apples and Oranges. Forwards are all gonna be off the board by 4. D take longer to develop. Look at the D from that 2024 draft. Unless you get a superstar talent D take a long time. Apparently SJ and Chicago both don’t see that player available considering SJ looks to go Stenberg 2 and Hawks traded out. Might just be a weak draft

We're talking about the best of the best of each draft. So Hutson and a few others only took 2 years before they were NHLers. Levshunov took a year before he was an NHLer. Even if they took Reid, Carels, or Verhoeff, you're probably only looking at 1-2 years max before they're in your lineup. And the most significant thing to consider in all of this, there is no rush, the Blackhawks suck, that's why they're picking top 5 again. They have the time to wait

 

[dj Mahoney]

I wonder if Bedard introduced Byram to his mom yet?

How's Rejean Fool doing ?

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

I've watched every game Crevier played.

Enjoy your one-off clips, but that's not a consistent factor in his game. The Hawks front office literally signed him up for MMA classes because they thought he was too soft.

So no Smits for you then?