Sabres get mixed contract update on Bowen Byram
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Sabres get mixed contract update on Bowen Byram originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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Alex Tuch's free agency is going to dominate discussions around the Buffalo Sabres this offseason.
But the Sabres are also well aware that standout defenseman Bowen Byram is just a year away from unrestricted free agency himself. That makes this offseason a key pivot point in Byram's potential future in Western New York.
There's certainly a sense that the Sabres know his value, but that doesn't always mean a deal gets done, either.
"Bowen Byram’s agent, Darren Ferris, is slated to meet with Buffalo Sabres GM Jarmo Kekäläinen at the Draft Combine in Buffalo next week," The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun wrote on Tuesday. "Byram is one of a few key files for the Sabres this offseason, along with Alex Tuch and Zach Benson. (I was told status quo by league sources on Monday when I checked in on the Tuch situation.)"
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LeBrun then lays out both sides of this, one of which favors the Sabres but the other half working against Buffalo.
"It will be interesting to see how it goes on the Byram front," LeBrun writes. "He’s scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in 2027, and I think he really likes it in Buffalo, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he extended this summer."
The problem could come down to the tendencies of Byram's agent.
"On the other hand, Ferris philosophically often advises his clients to fully take advantage of their UFA option, so I could also see a scenario in which that’s the advice for his client this summer, to play out his contract," LeBrun writes. "We shall see."
Buffalo's impressive group of defensemen was a big reason for the success this season with the Sabres. Based on that, they'd surely like to keep Byram around if they can reach a compromise.