It appears the Chicago Blackhawks might have found a new top-pairing option after acquiring defenseman Bowen Byram in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
In addition to Byram, the Blackhawks received forward Jordan Greenway, who had six points in 40 games. In return, the Sabres landed the Nos. 4 and 45 picks in Friday's NHL draft, along with defenseman Louis Crevier.
Byram, who had a career-high 11 goals and 42 points in 82 games, gives the Blackhawks a 24-year-old puck-mover who has been waiting for his chance to showcase why he was projected as a top-pairing defenseman when the Colorado Avalanche drafted him No. 4 in 2019.
Byram was part of Colorado's championship team in 2022, but the team already having a future two-time Norris Trophy winner in Cale Makar plus Samuel Girard, Josh Manson and Devon Toews led to Byram being expendable, and he was traded to the Sabres during the 2023-24 season.
In Buffalo, Byram was part of a young defense corps that featured a pair of No. 1 picks in Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power along with Mattias Samuelsson, a high second-round pick in 2018.
That quartet would be instrumental in the Sabres ending their 14-year playoff drought -- the longest in NHL history -- this past season.
Buffalo has six unrestricted free agents -- led by Alex Tuch -- and young players such as Zach Benson and Peyton Krebs are pending restricted free agents in need of new contracts.
With Tuesday's trade, the Sabres hold two first-round picks and a second-round selection.
PuckPedia projected the Sabres had $11.9 million in cap space before the trade nearly doubled that figure to $21.299 million by shedding Byram's $6.25 million annual salary along with the $4 million that Greenway was set to make. Both are in the final seasons of their respective contracts.
As for the Blackhawks, trading their first-round pick comes as a surprise for a rebuilding franchise that has had multiple first-round picks in each draft since 2022 to not have a single first-rounder this year. They do, however, hold three first-round picks in 2027. Chicago won't make its first selection until the second round, where they have two picks.
Byram joins a young core that is led by Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Alex Vlasic, Artyom Levshunov, Wyatt Kaiser, Kevin Korchinski and Spencer Knight. He will be charged with operating as a No. 1 defenseman on a team that ranked as the worst in the NHL in the defensive zone and also had its struggles on offense.
According to Natural Stat Trick's data, the Blackhawks gave up the most high-danger chances and scoring chances along with the second-most shots in 5-on-5 play. They were also in the bottom three when it came to generating the most high-danger chances, scoring chances and shots in 5-on-5 play.