The Buffalo Sabres and the Chicago Blackhawks made a stunning trade, sending Bowen Byram west for the 4th overall pick. It was a deal that drew dramatic reactions when it broke. Did Chicago overpay for their new top defenseman? Or did Buffalo give up too early on a player who has not popped offensively? We’ve got the trade grades for the Sabres-Blackhawks mega-trade ahead of the NHL Draft.
The Blackhawks had the second-worst record in the league last year, but fell to fourth in the NHL Draft Lottery. Both the Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks jumped them in the lottery, changing their draft outlook. That forced Chicago to look elsewhere in the trade market, and the Sabres ended up being the perfect fit.
How did both sides fare in the massive Bowen Byram trade?
The Sabres are ready to be big offseason players
Jarmo Kekalainen is in his first off-season as the Sabres’ general manager and is coming off the team’s first playoff appearance in 15 years. That does not mean he is sitting on his hands, however. The Sabres have now sold off two of their defenseman, trading Michael Kesselring to the San Jose Sharks before this move. That leaves them with a bevy of picks, and they are ready to pounce.
While the Sabres have a need for defensemen now, they are in a position to fix that problem in multiple ways. They can hold onto the 4th overall pick and use it on a defenseman. But that won’t help them make the playoffs again next year. Could they use that pick and trade the 20th overall pick before the end of Friday’s first round? The Sabres were in a bleak spot a year ago, but now they have a solid core and great options.
The Sabres get an A- for this deal. It creates a need, but they can replace the 42 points Byram scored last year pretty easily. If Radim Mrtka is ready to make his NHL debut next year, that could be an option as well.
The Blackhawks overpay for Bowen Byram
The Blackhawks have been stuck in mediocrity since the end of the 2010s dynasty, and Kyle Davidson is trying to get them out. At some point, they can’t draft in the top five forever. And the Sharks trading away William Eklund nearly guaranteed they were going to take Ivar Sternberg. Without the Swedish winger available at 4, Chicago was going to take a defenseman. And if Byram is better than all the 18-year-olds in the draft, then the trade makes sense.
But Byram’s ceiling is low for the 4th overall pick. Add in young defenseman Louis Crevier and the 45th overall pick, and this is a pretty dramatic overpay. They also need to give Byram a new contract, as he is one year away from unrestricted free agency. Without a great defenseman available in free agency, this was the only way for Chicago to get a new powerplay quarterback.
The Blackhawks now enter Friday’s draft without a first-round pick. They have plenty of prospects in the pipeline, but none of their defensemen have developed into NHL-caliber players yet. Kevin Korchinski and Artyom Levshunov have not developed into stars despite being drafted in the top ten. So why take another gamble on a top-ten defenseman when winning is mandatory?
The Blackhawks get a D+ for this trade because there is an argument for it making sense. But at the end of the day, the fourth overall pick was far too rich for Byram. They got forward Jordan Greenway as well, but he was a throwaway contract in the deal.
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