Report: The Calgary Flames were never going to offer sheet Bowen Byram

The Calgary Flames are weak at left defence, and it’s no secret they’ve been trying to address this issue this offseason. Virtually every left defenceman whose name has hit the market has been linked to the Flames. Two of the more notable names are Bowen Byram and K’Andre Miller.

Both Byram and Miller were restricted free agents this summer. There was a very real possibility that a team would offer sheet each player. Enter Craig Conroy and the Calgary Flames.

Dreger says Flames were in on K’Andre Miller

TSN insider Darren Dreger joined the Barn Burner podcast last week and shared some information about the K’Andre Miller situation. He mentioned that the Flames were in discussions with the New York Rangers about acquiring the 6’5″ blueliner. Dreger went as far as to say that at the start of the day on July 1, he had a “good sense K’Andre Miller was going to join the Calgary Flames.”

Then, the Carolina Hurricanes threatened an offer sheet, and the Rangers focused on working out a trade. They dealt Miller to the Hurricanes for Scott Morrow, a conditional 2026 first-round pick, and a 2026 second-round pick. Reading between the lines, Calgary was looking to acquire Miller through a trade rather than an offer sheet. Good news, Flames fans!

The Flames were “for sure” interested in Byram

Bo Byram chose a heck of a time to put up a career-high 38 points for the Buffalo Sabres. He hit the market as one of the top blueliners and generated a lot of interest around the league. Moreover, according to Dreger, Byram thinks he’s a number one defenceman. This all points to him signing a big-ticket deal this summer.

Dreger mentioned on July 2 that he was not convinced the threat of an offer sheet on Byram was gone. He further said that the Flames were “for sure interested in him.”

On the July 8 Barn Burner episode, Boomer mentioned that the Flames nearly offer sheeted Byram. He said it was very close to getting done. It wasn’t the cost of acquisition that prevented a deal from happening, but that the Flames didn’t want to pay Byram the $9M+ he was looking for.

Thankfully, an offer sheet is now off the table as the Sabres elected to take Byram to arbitration.