Bowen Byram traded to the Chicago Blackhawks by the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday in a multi-piece deal built around the No. 4 overall pick in the 2026 National Hockey League (NHL) Draft. Buffalo also received defenseman Louis Crevier and the No. 45 pick in the same draft, while Chicago added forward Jordan Greenway.
What Buffalo Gets Back
Landing the No. 4 pick gives the Sabres two first-round selections this week. Buffalo already holds No. 20, so the club now controls back-to-back picks in the top 20 at a draft being held at KeyBank Center, their own building, starting Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN+, SN, and TVAS.
Crevier, a right-shooting defenseman born May 4, 2001, in Quebec City, QC, had 25 points (7 goals, 18 assists) in 78 games for the Blackhawks this season, according to NHL.com’s Blackhawks player page. He has one season remaining on a two-year, $1.8 million contract ($900,000 average annual value, AAV) signed July 17, 2025. Chicago selected him in the seventh round (No. 188) of the 2020 NHL Draft.
Crevier’s NHL career is still developing. He logged 24 games (0 G, 3 A) in 2023-24 and 32 games (3 G, 1 A) in 2024-25 before his expanded role this season. PuckPedia lists his 2024-25 cap hit at $775,000, stepping up to $900,000 on his current deal.
Greenway, 29, had six points (one goal, five assists) in 40 regular-season games for Buffalo and three points (two goals, one assist) in 13 playoff games. He is entering the final season of a two-year, $8 million contract ($4 million AAV) signed with the Sabres on March 5, 2025. Minnesota selected him in the second round (No. 50) of the 2015 NHL Draft; he carries 165 points (56 goals, 109 assists) in 475 regular-season games split between the Wild and Sabres.
Byram Traded to Blackhawks: The Player Chicago Is Getting
Byram, 25, set a career high with 42 points (11 goals, 31 assists) in 82 games this season. He added seven points (four goals, three assists) in 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games as Buffalo reached the postseason for the first time since 2010-11.
He carries real playoff pedigree. Byram posted nine assists in 20 games in 2022 when the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup. Across 328 regular-season games with Colorado and Buffalo, he has 152 points (44 goals, 108 assists) and 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) in 40 playoff games. Colorado selected him No. 4 overall in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Byram has one season remaining on the two-year, $12.5 million contract ($6.25 million AAV) he signed with Buffalo on July 14, 2025. That deal avoided salary arbitration, according to Buffalo Hockey Beat, which also noted the $6.25 million AAV ranked as the fifth-highest cap hit on the Sabres at the time of signing, per PuckPedia. Once the contract expires, Byram becomes an unrestricted free agent, per reporting aggregated by Yahoo Sports citing Elliotte Friedman.
Byram, who grew up just outside Cranbrook, B.C., addressed his situation directly on Sabres.com before the trade: “I think, as a player, I have a lot more to give, and I’m looking forward to having that opportunity to do so.”
Chicago’s Offseason Search, and What It Cost
The Athletic’s Scott Powers reported on June 19, 2026, that the Blackhawks expected to target an established defenseman in the offseason. Powers noted John Carlson was a player Chicago liked, but the belief was Carlson would sign with an Eastern Conference club. Byram represented a younger, under-contract alternative.
Powers also flagged the core difficulty in any Byram deal before it closed: the Blackhawks had limited assets to offer a contending team. He noted Buffalo might “just take assets and try to flip those for something else” if futures were the best available package, per The Athletic. That is essentially what happened. Chicago surrendered a top-four pick, a second-rounder, and a young defenseman still on a cheap deal.
The Blackhawks (29-39-14) finished last in the Central Division and have not qualified for the postseason since 2019-20. They now hold no first-round pick and will not select until Nos. 34 and 37 on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET on NHLN, ESPN+, and SN.
Buffalo (50-23-9), Atlantic Division winners, swapped one year of Byram for two draft picks, a young blue-liner, and a veteran winger. With the No. 4 and No. 20 picks in hand, the Sabres step to the board Friday night at home.
