NHL Rumours: Bowen Byram and the St. Louis Blues

Welcome to NHL Rumours! We have had a busy start to July, but there could be more on the way. Today’s rumour involves the St. Louis Blues, who are rumoured to be still pursuing Buffalo Sabres defenceman Bowen Byram. 

NHL Rumours

Bowen Byram and the St. Louis Blues

Rumour: According to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, the Blues have been “trying hard” to acquire Byram from the Sabres. Rutherford said that the Blues are interested in trading for Byram, rather than tendering him an offer sheet.

Analysis: Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has expressed a willingness to trade Byram. However, a return for Byram would need to improve the current roster, not just obtain assets for the future. On the other hand, Adams is prepared to match any offer sheet tendered to the defenceman. From this, Adams would rather keep Byram, meaning it would take the right deal to lure him away from Buffalo.

Can the Blues Make a Suitable Offer?

General manager Doug Armstrong may have pulled off a heist when he traded for Ryan O’Reilly in 2018, but it does not seem the same will happen this time. 

If the Sabres want to see the roster improve, they may be interested in a defenceman who can take Byram’s place on the roster. Justin Faulk could be an option to head to Buffalo. Faulk has two years left on his contract and is coming off a relatively good season with the Blues. For the Blues, this would also eliminate up to $6.5 million from the cap, which could be used to extend Byram. What makes trading Faulk tricky is that he has a 15-team no-trade list. It is unknown if the Sabres are on that list or not. 

Faulk alone would not get Byram, so Armstrong may look to some younger, NHL-ready talent to add to the package. Tyler Tucker is coming off a strong postseason (before he was injured), and Matthew Kessel is a young, right-handed shot. Either of these two would give the Sabres some younger defencemen. 

The Icing on the Cake

If Adams wants someone who can genuinely help the Sabres roster now, the Blues have someone they could include in the trade. Blues fans will not want to hear this, but if Armstrong is serious about acquiring Byram, Jake Neighbours may need to be on the block. Neighbours is coming off a strong season where he has established himself as part of the Blues offensive core. 

However, Dylan Holloway‘s breakout season, the debuts of Jimmy Snuggerud and Dalibor Dvorsky, and the signing of Pius Suter may have made Neighbours expendable. Neighbours is currently projected to be on the Blues third line. Losing Neighbours’ offence would be rough, but establishing a strong defensive core may be worth it. 

It is essential to remember that to obtain something, you must first acquire it. Even while fleecing the Sabres for O’Reilly, Armstrong still gave up a first-round pick and Tage Thompson. 

Neighbours could be the icing on the trade cake that brings Byram to St. Louis. 

The Risk of An Offer Sheet

Rutherford noted the Blues will likely stray from the offer sheet, despite their success last season. The Sabres being willing to match an offer sheet means a team will need to offer a high salary to try to persuade the Sabres not to match. The issue is that Byram is an unrestricted free agent after this season. A team may pay a high price, lose the draft picks as compensation, and then lose Byram in free agency. Furthermore, if Byram is acquired via an offer sheet, the team that gets him will not be able to trade him. 

As a result, it would be in the Blues best interest to stay away from the offer sheet option. Never thought we would say that, did you?