The Buffalo Sabres completed the Bowen Byram trade to the Blackhawks on Monday, sending the 25-year-old defenseman and forward Jordan Greenway to Chicago in exchange for the fourth and 45th overall picks in this week’s NHL Draft and defenseman Louis Crevier. The deal reshapes both rosters heading into Friday’s draft and the July 1 free-agency window.
Byram Heads to Chicago With Cup Pedigree
Byram was the centerpiece moving to the Blackhawks. Colorado selected him fourth overall in the 2019 Draft, and he collected a Stanley Cup ring with the Avalanche in 2022. The Avalanche traded him to Buffalo midway through the 2023-24 season in exchange for Casey Mittelstadt.
In the 2025-26 regular season, Byram posted 11 goals, 31 assists, and 42 points in 82 games. He carried that production into the playoffs, recording seven points across 13 games before the Sabres fell to the Montreal Canadiens in overtime in Game 7 of the second round.
The Bowen Byram Trade: What Buffalo Gets Back
The most scrutinized return piece is the fourth overall pick. With that selection, Buffalo gains access to a draft class headlined by Caleb Malhotra (contingent on Vancouver’s decision), Carson Carels, Albert Smits, and Chase Reid. The Sabres also hold the 20th pick, giving general manager Jarmo Kekalainen two first-round assets to work with or package before the weekend.
The 45th pick carries its own context. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Blackhawks had received that pick from the New York Islanders in a 2023 trade, the same deal that sent forward Josh Bailey to Chicago, a player who never appeared in a game for the club.
Crevier is the only player Buffalo receives. The 6-foot-8, 228-pound defenseman led Chicago’s blue line in scoring with 25 points in 2025-26. He reached his 100th NHL game against Calgary on January 15, according to BlackhawkUp, making him the fourth skater from the later rounds of the 2020 Draft to hit that mark. For contrast, HockeyDB shows he posted just 0 goals and 3 assists in 24 NHL games during 2023-24, which underlines how much ground he has covered in a short time.
Per PuckPedia, Crevier carries a two-year contract at a $900,000 cap hit per season, making him an inexpensive addition to Buffalo’s defense.
Greenway Departure Opens Cap Room in Buffalo
Greenway’s move to Chicago clears a meaningful obligation off Buffalo’s books. The Sabres’ official site confirmed his two-year extension at a $4,000,000 average annual value. PuckPedia notes the deal also carried a Modified No-Trade Clause, which required coordination before the swap could close.
Greenway produced six points in 40 regular-season games and three points during the Sabres’ playoff run. His physical presence was valued in the locker room, but the production relative to his cap number made him movable. Per PuckPedia, Buffalo now carries $21,299,903 in projected cap space following the trade, giving Kekalainen room to operate on July 1.
That flexibility matters given the activity elsewhere in the league. On June 22, the Ottawa Senators traded Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers for the ninth overall pick. The following day, Ottawa flipped that pick to the San Jose Sharks for William Eklund. The volume of picks moving around signals a competitive market, one that Kekalainen has navigated aggressively.
Buffalo reportedly has a vacancy at forward with Alex Tuch expected to reach free agency on July 1. With the fourth pick in hand, the Sabres can either draft Friday or use the selection as currency to land an established player before the window opens.
For Chicago, the Bowen Byram trade is a bet on a 25-year-old defenseman who has already won at the highest level. The Blackhawks surrendered two picks and their points leader on the blue line to get him. How that calculation plays out will depend largely on what Byram produces in a rebuilding environment. Kekalainen, for his part, turned a Mittelstadt-era deal into a fourth overall pick, a second-rounder, and a low-cost young defenseman, a sequence that will be worth revisiting when the draft board closes Friday night.
