Buffalo Sabres trade Bowen Byram to Chicago Blackhawks for 1st round pick and more

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Buffalo Sabres have traded defenseman Bowen Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks for a first-round pick and more.

According to the Sabres, Byram and Jordan Greenway are headed to Chicago and Buffalo will receive the fourth and 45th overall picks in the 2026 NHL Draft and defenseman Louis Crevier.

This is the second trade the Sabres have made in the last week. On June 17, Buffalo traded defenseman Michael Kesselring and the 27th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for the 20th overall pick in this year's draft.

Bovés take: 

The second Sabres domino has fallen. Last week Jarmo Kekäläinen traded Michael Kesselring to San Jose and now Bowen Byram to Chicago. 

So what gives? Let’s start with Byram. It’s clear he didn’t want to stay in Buffalo long term. From the conversations I’ve had, this doesn’t feel like a shot at the organization or city but more of the Sabres depth chart on the blue line. Byram believes he’s a top defenseman. In Buffalo, he’d never be that with Rasmus Dahlin here. Heck, you could even make the case he wouldn’t be their second or third defenseman either.

I think the Sabres wanted to keep Byram, but once they knew he wasn’t going to commit long term, they pivoted.

As for the return, well, Kekäläinen knocked this out of the park. To get the fourth overall pick on its own would’ve been a massive return. But the Sabres also were able to shed Jordan Greenway’s contract, add a second-round pick, and a defenseman.

WATCH: Bove reacts to the trade and what could be coming next

Now we wait to see if the Sabres actually use the fourth overall pick or if they flip it into something else. At the very least, I’d expect the Sabres to move one of their top picks (4 or 20), if not both. This week just became very interesting. Losing Byram will leave a big hole on the Sabres blue line, but if he wasn’t going to stay, you couldn’t afford to lose him for nothing.

The 2026 NHL Draft begins Friday, June 26, at the KeyBank Center.