Is Sabres’ Bo Byram being overrated this summer?

Bowen Byram and the Buffalo Sabres aren’t having the friendliest of summers and are set to head to salary arbitration after the Sabres elected to file in the case of the defenseman’s contract. 

While Byram won’t be eligible to sign an offer sheet with another team after the July 5 deadline now passed, he will have the advantage of picking the term of the next contract, either one or two years. However, the possibility remains that the parties could work towards a trade, which reports suggest may be the preferred outcome for Byram. 

If Byram were to select a two-year contract from arbitration, it would walk him straight to unrestricted free agency in 2027-2028.

On the latest episode of Daily Faceoff Live, Tyler Yaremchuk and Colby Cohen broke down Byram’s situation and whether he is being overrated this summer. 

Yaremchuk: There was obviously a lot of smoke, we’ll call it,  when the free agency window opened, and even around the NHL Draft as well. The Sabres were trying to get a haul for Byram, and then there was talk that there were teams clamouring to make an offer sheet for him. 

I feel like we’ve maybe… lost the plot a little bit with Bowen Byram. He’s a very good defenseman. I’m not trying to say he’s not a top-four defenseman, but there were teams who were willing to apparently spend upwards of $9 million AAV for him. On a Stanley Cup team, he’s not a top pairing guy.

Cohen: I totally agree with you. I think he’s more of a complementary piece. I don’t think that his offensive game has ever sort of developed like I think people thought it would when he was first drafted, and I don’t think his defensive game is that of a shutdown top pair, number one type of guy, either.

He finds his way as sort of a middle pair type of defenseman. I think the number for a guy like Bowen Byram would be somewhere in the $6 million or $7 million, but it’s definitely been a rocky road for him. 

He wanted out from the Colorado Avalanche because he wanted more of an opportunity…then he goes to Buffalo, where a lot of guys’ careers don’t go so well when. I don’t think we’ve truly seen what this guy could be, but if he doesn’t get out of Buffalo sooner rather than later, I think he’ll end up being a very above-average defenseman in the NHL for the next few years.

You can catch the full Byram segment and the rest of the latest episode here…