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

[Ararana]

Stan Bowman f***ed Chicago so bad when he didn't just draft Byram 3rd OA. The NHL tried to gift Chicago Duncan Kieth's heir apparent and the dude shat all over it.

Now 7 years later they're trading a haul to acquire him and a over pay him.

 

[TheDoldrums]

you say this before engaging in a negotiation with Darren Ferris, he's getting taken to the cleaners on this deal

 

[Hull2Roenick2Kane]

Yes and no.

If I was JD, id give him until trade deadline to extend at an overpaid but not ridiculous contract.....if he doesnt, then you trade him. Hawks wont get nearly as much as they paid but you cut your losses.

The worst think Hawks can do is fix a loss with a loss. Trade huge for him, overpay him to a ridiculous ridiculous contract.

yes. He deserves to be called JD now. no one should say his name correctly.

Davidson must see them being a playoff team and Byram being a #1D. Huge overpayment by Chicago.

What is Davidson thinking giving up this years 4th overall lol. Yikes, was he drunk when he made this deal?

I think Bedard is driving this. Bedard in his exit interview said we are not missing the playoffs again next year and its probably holding up his contract as well. Byram better be top pairing calibur D with 50 assists next year or its definitely a step back.

According to Frank Sevaralli, Bedard contacted Byram yesterday while on the golf course telling him how excited he was that Byram would be a Hawk. Byram will be great on the PP and getting the puck to Bedard. Byram has waited a long time to be 1D, pretty sure he's going to give it his all.

yep. makes sense. but now we have a player playing GM and not the GM.

So lets say they draft Chase Reid (or Carson Carels), that player goes to college, and enter the league full time 1-2 years from now.

Then it takes them another 2 years to learn the league, mature, and become a true bonafide top 3 defenseman. That's 3-4 years from now if everything goes smoothly. What is Bedard thinking in the meanwhile?

Chicago was against a rock and a hard place here. They can't keep waiting around.



With the amount of interest in Byram there's no way that was happening. He would've been acquired and signed by another team.

Big names getting to UFA and fielding offers is going to be a thing of the past. Trade & sign is the way as we've seen for awhile now.

yep. KD is Bedards bitch now. pathetic.

He'd hopefully be thinking thank god my team isn't run by morons and didn't burn our most valuable asset on a 2nd pairing dman.

Again, Bedard is 20, the players being drafted are 18. They are dead smack in his age range in terms of competitive windows. Making the pick here made a lot of sense even if Bedard isn't keen to hear "have patience." No doubt Bedard wants to contend sooner rather than later but you don't accelerate the timeline by making braindead moves and blowing valuable assets like this.

Bedard should prefer to be a cup contender in 5 years than a playoff contender in 2 years. Celebrini I'm sure wants to improve asap too, should the Sharks trade 2nd overall pick for Noah Dobson or someone like that? Bad asset management is bad asset management regardless of the impetus.

Bedard is pretty immature. He's been brash this year to opposing teams fans and flaunting a gold chain on the ice. The Blackhawks are truly the Bedards now.

 

[Hull2Roenick2Kane]

you say this before engaging in a negotiation with Darren Ferris, he's getting taken to the cleaners on this deal

Davidson loves to hear the sound his own voice. Its not surprising, hes just too dumb to realize hes digging his own grave.

NHL Contracts by Agent Darren Ferris | Puckpedia

puckpedia.com

looking at Ferris's profile he also has Paul Ludwinski (Chicago second round pick from 2022) so maybe there is some familiarity/conversing/collusion going on with KD and Darren Ferris.

 

[DFF]

Except they don't

I guess that’s your opinion but I easily find at least 4 players better than him in every draft

Also he is a UFA next year and they are missing out on an entry contact and have to overpay to keep him

 

[izlez]

you say this before engaging in a negotiation with Darren Ferris, he's getting taken to the cleaners on this deal

What a crazy thing to say. Like, instead of trying to find undervalued players to be able to build a championship team, he's literally valuing players more than everyone else and using that evaluation to make trades and sign contracts just to make a point that he's smarter than everyone else???

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

I guess if people don't like Bryan but he is alot better than many people give him credit for.

Really good deal for the Sabers and could turn into a win/win for both teams type of trade was my first reaction here.

I think BB needs to be a lot better for this to be a win/win. A top 5 pick is someone you expect to be a cornerstone of your organization, someone who will solve a position for you for the next 6-10 years. Byram has not shown he’s that level yet. Also, the value is way off. They took a cap dump in Greenway and gave away the 45th pick in addition to the 4th pick.

To me this seems like a GM making a panic move to push the rebuild along faster and that almost never works. Bedard is still entering year four and still has one of the worst supporting casts at forward in the league. If they spent the 4th++ on Robertson or Larkin or another bonafide top line forward then I think that makes more sense but LD is tough.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

It's scary to think what Buffalo can add to their team with this 6th overall pick that will make them even better.

 

[Canadienna]

If it was just 4OA for Byram I think I would have liked it for CHI.

Yes, it's a bit of an overpay but that's the cost of getting a 25 year old 4th overall pick as opposed to an 18 year old.

But adding the 2nd and Crevier on top of the already overpay is pretty bad.

Still, putting aside value, I do think CHI got a lot better here.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

What is Chicago doing ? But this is the same GM who traded into the 2022 1st round to draft Korchinski over Mintyukov/Mateychuck.

 

[1909]

Even if Buffalo taded Byram and Kesselring, they still have a big steady D-Corp with Crevier. + That 4th overall pick is a precious asset.

 

[dmcccdmn]

First thought: Mike Grier's Eklund trade implying his intention to draft Stenberg caused Chicago to implode.

Second thought: who does Buffalo want to draft at 4OA? Can Grier trade #9 and #27 for #5 to get Smit?

 

[Waldorf]

Even if Buffalo taded Byram and Kesselring, they still have a big steady D-Corp with Crevier. + That 4th overall pick is a precious asset.

yeah I really think that they got the assets wrong. Maybe they don’t like or have room for Kesselring but it takes time to develop D and I can understand if they want some guys who are further along. I know Bedard’s star hasn’t shone as brightly as Celebrini’s but he’s also had a rougher go of it. Getting the D to an acceptable place would let them focus on the forward group. Then they’re cooking with gas. Not sure about this though. Why not just trade down then?

 

[Daisycutter]

Mike Grier:
-Acquires 9th overall.
-Allows rumors to circulate that he's interested in Byram..

Kyle Davidson:
-Hears said rumors
-Panics and does.. this.

Mike Grier:

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

Our roster is still too big. Need to get rid of 1-2 goalies, 1-2 forwards probably lest we lose them to waivers.
Kulich is coming back next season as well.

I appreciate that. I was talking about upgrades. Take those picks and some of the current roster for some of the big names on the board.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I had to check in on this trade this morning to make sure it wasn’t a dream.