Headlines

  • Maple Leafs Hire Derek Lalonde As Assistant Coach
  • Avalanche’s Logan O’Connor Out 5-6 Months Following Hip Surgery
  • Lightning Hire Dan Hinote As Assistant Coach
  • Stars Fire Pete DeBoer
  • Rangers Hire David Quinn, Joe Sacco As Assistant Coaches
  • Bruins Name Marco Sturm Head Coach
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Utah Mammoth
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Sabres Gauging Bowen Byram’s Trade Market

May 22, 2025 at 10:49 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 13 Comments

After his name sat low on trade burners throughout the 2024-25 campaign, the Sabres are now more seriously gauging what might be available on the trade market for pending restricted free agent defenseman Bowen Byram, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on yesterday’s 32 Thoughts podcast.

Byram, acquired from the Avalanche in exchange for Casey Mittelstadt at the 2024 trade deadline, is coming off his first full season in Buffalo. The 23-year-old had, by basic metrics, the best season of his five-year NHL career. While injury concerns had plagued the 2019 No. 4 overall pick’s likelihood of becoming an everyday top-four piece in recent years, he managed a full 82-game season in 2024-25 in career-high usage. Byram averaged 22:42 of ice time per game, second on the team behind No. 1 defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, and recorded a career-high 31 assists, 38 points, and a +11 rating.

But with fellow lefties Dahlin and Owen Power in the mix, the Sabres have struggled to find the right fit for Byram in their depth chart. As a result, he spent most of the season playing top-pair minutes on his offside with Dahlin. He also had some more unfavorable possession metrics than one would expect, given his plus-minus mark tied for the third-highest on the team. The Sabres only controlled 49.3% of shot attempts and 47.8% of expected goals with him on the ice at even strength. Those are far worse numbers than he had when skating with Dahlin (53.1 xGF%, per MoneyPuck). His possession numbers nosedived when paired with Power or Connor Clifton, his two other usual linemates in 2024-25.

With Byram recently switching representation as his previous two-year, $7.7MM contract expires, Buffalo may have some hesitancy around the likelihood of being able to agree on a long-term contract. While he told reporters during his year-end media availability that he sees a long-term fit with the Sabres, his poor two-way showings away from Dahlin this year may mean the feeling isn’t mutual, especially amid an organizational logjam among left-shot defensemen.

That could lead to Byram, who also co-led the team with 116 blocked shots, landing on his third team in as many seasons in 2025-26. AFP Analytics projects a longer-term extension for the British Columbia native to come in north of $7MM per season with a five-year term. If Buffalo were to pay that, they would have three defenders over a $7MM cap hit and five players in total – a somewhat eyebrow-raising number for a club amid a 14-year playoff drought.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Buffalo Sabres| Newsstand Bowen Byram

Blue Jackets Shopping First-Round Picks
Main
Blackhawks Hire Jeff Blashill, Michael Peca
View Comments (13)

Comments

  1. PyramidHeadcrab

    2 weeks ago

    At what point is Buffalo going to actually start building an NHL team and stop trading talent away for futures who, in turn, just get traded for more futures?

    5
    Reply
    • AaronV

      2 weeks ago

      So true, always in a rebuild

      1
      Reply
  2. mikedickinson

    2 weeks ago

    He’d look good in Carolina.

    1
    Reply
    • AaronV

      2 weeks ago

      So would Rantanen

      2
      Reply
    • itsmeheyhii

      2 weeks ago

      He’s not gonna be on the 3rd pairing behind Slavin and Nikishin.

      Reply
  3. Philly 6

    2 weeks ago

    Flyers if they are able to move Risto first?

    Reply
    • Never Remember

      2 weeks ago

      Why would a team want an injured Risto who will be back maybe by December? I’m sure they can get a first for him plus if a team can negotiate a deal with Bowen first. Probably Columbus.

      Reply
  4. DevilShark

    2 weeks ago

    Reckon the sharks would sniff around this. D is still their weakest area.

    Reply
  5. fljay73

    2 weeks ago

    Blah blah blah blah.
    Adams made a hockey trade. He got back a very good young defenseman. They tried him out for over a season. Sabres played about 9 games over .500 outside of their 13 game winless stretch. Teams need defensemen. See what offers are out there. I prefer my team winning a Stanley Cup 1 season and missing the playoffs the other 9 than become a team like Toronto.

    1
    Reply
  6. fljay73

    2 weeks ago

    Adams had to do a rebuild after his 1st year as GM.

    Reply
  7. fljay73

    2 weeks ago

    The Sabres did not have a good overall team during their first rebuild. Adams has done a better job building out the depth throughout the system. Still the youngest team in hockey.

    Reply
  8. 8EL8

    2 weeks ago

    More schizophrenic behavior from Sabres management, And they wonder why they are losers, Trade Byram, Extend Greenway. Lol!!!!!

    Reply
  9. alstott40

    2 weeks ago

    there has been a gaping hole in goal since hasek left .. first priority should be finding a franchise tender

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Maple Leafs Hire Derek Lalonde As Assistant Coach

    Avalanche’s Logan O’Connor Out 5-6 Months Following Hip Surgery

    Lightning Hire Dan Hinote As Assistant Coach

    Stars Fire Pete DeBoer

    Rangers Hire David Quinn, Joe Sacco As Assistant Coaches

    Bruins Name Marco Sturm Head Coach

    Re-Signing Luke Hughes Top Priority For Devils Off-Season

    Penguins Name Dan Muse Head Coach

    Avalanche Sign Brock Nelson To Three-Year Extension

    Nikita Kucherov Wins Ted Lindsay Award

    Recent

    Metropolitan Notes: Shabanov, Gill, Boilard

    Offseason Checklist: Minnesota Wild

    Oilers Sign Viljami Marjala

    Spencer Carbery Wins 2025 Jack Adams Award

    Penguins Notes: Free Agency, Leone, Novak

    Aaron Ekblad Hoping To Stay With Panthers

    Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson Previews Draft

    A.J. Greer Out For Panthers In Game 2

    Penguins’ Vasiliy Ponomarev Expected To Sign In KHL

    Kraken Fire Coaches Dave Lowry And Steve Briere

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Mammoth Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Brock Boeser Rumors
    • Scott Laughton Rumors
    • Brock Nelson Rumors
    • Rickard Rakell Rumors
    • Mikko Rantanen Rumors

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    • Support Pro Hockey Rumors And Go Ad-Free
    • 2024-25 Salary Cap Deep Dive Series
    • 2025 NHL Free Agent List
    • 2026 NHL Free Agent List
    • Active Roster Tracker
    • Arbitration-Eligible Free Agents 2025
    • Coaching Staff Directory
    • Draft Order 2025
    • Trade Tracker
    • Pro Hockey Rumors On X
    • Pro Hockey Rumors Polls
    • Waiver Claims 2024-25

     

     

     

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version