The Buffalo Sabres are on the verge of a major shakeup tonight, with insider Frank Seravalli reporting the team is acquiring the No. 4 overall pick from the Chicago Blackhawks for Bowen Byram.
According to Seravalli, the return package heading to Buffalo is the fourth pick in Friday's NHL Draft, a second pick, and a player. The deal wasn't finalized at time of posting.
That's a significant haul for a defenseman who just turned 25 and posted 42 points in 82 regular season games this year.
Byram carries a $6.25 million cap hit. He went plus-15 on the season, scored 5 game-winning goals, and was a real contributor for a Sabres team that finished 50-23-9 and first in the Atlantic Division.
He also produced in the playoffs, putting up 7 points in 13 games before Buffalo's run ended.
So why is GM Jarmo Kekalainen moving him? That's the question worth sitting with for a minute.
Sabres get major draft capital in draft-night Byram deal
Buffalo is a 109-point team. They don't need to be rebuilding. They need to be adding.
Trading one of your better young defenders for a draft pick, even the fourth overall, feels like a move you make when you've identified a specific hole you can't fill any other way. Or when the relationship isn't quite what it looks like on paper.
Chicago finished 31st in the league at 29-39-14, with a goal differential of minus-62. They went 2-7-1 in their last 10. They clearly need help on the blue line, and Byram fits.
For the Blackhawks and GM Kyle Davidson, giving up a top-four pick for a 25-year-old defenseman under contract is an aggressive bet on now. Connor Bedard had 75 points this season. They're trying to accelerate around him.
Whether that logic holds up is another conversation. You're paying premium draft capital for a guy who, in his last five playoff games, managed 1 point and went minus-4.
Buffalo meanwhile heads into Friday's draft with a top-four pick, which in a deep class is essentially walking into a lottery. That's the kind of asset that changes a franchise's direction, not just its depth chart.
Head coach Lindy Ruff now has a puzzle to solve on the back end without Byram in the mix.
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The deal isn't done yet. But when Seravalli posts back-to-back tweets tightening the details, it's usually a matter of hours, not days.
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Is trading Bowen Byram for the No. 4 pick the right move for the Buffalo Sabres?
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