The Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres completed a borderline blockbuster trade. Chicago sent the 4th & 45th overall picks, along with Louis Crevier, to Buffalo in exchange for Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway.
Byram is an incredible defenseman who comes to Chicago hoping to be their number one. He feels that after a career year, it is time for him to get the ice time and paycheck that he deserves. With Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, and Owen Power already established in Buffalo, Byram felt overshadowed.
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As a Blackhawk, Byram will be the number one guy on defense. On most nights, he will lead the team in time on ice, and should be their top offensive producer from the back-end. The team will be better with him on it.
The catch is that Byram has one year left on his deal, which carries a cap hit of $6.25 million. After that, he will require a substantial pay upgrade on a long-term extension. His salary will likely double. He is just 25 years old, which means he has some great hockey ahead of him, but it will still be a hard contract to live up to.
Jordan Greenway is not a game-changer. He will be a fourth-line option for Jeff Blashill, bringing a physical presence to the game, but you can’t point to him as a reason the team will be better.
Early in the life of the trade, it has the makings of a legitimate disaster for the Chicago Blackhawks. They gave up a top-five pick and a second-round pick, along with a solid defenseman in Louis Crevier, for Bowen Byram without an extension and a fourth-line forward.
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The outlook of the trade will improve if they get Byram signed, but there will also be worry about it becoming an albatross. They gave up a lot, including their most valuable asset, and Connor Bedard still has a huge hole on his wing.
In the likely event that they are unable to get Bedard a true top-line winger, that will make it four years in a row to start his career. That’s terrible asset management.
Byram is a really good player, and the Blackhawks should have taken him 3rd overall in 2019, but this is a massive overpay for him 7 years later.
Blackhawks Trade Grade: D+
The trade grade will become a C if Byram signs a fair extension, and it will become an A if he is the true number one defenseman that the Blackhawks need for a large portion of the Connor Bedard era. For now, there are way too many question marks.
Social Media Reacts To Sabres Trading Byram, Greenway To Blackhawks For No. 4 Pick And More
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