Sabres will match any Bowen Byram offer sheet, says GM Kevyn Adams
Last week, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams dealt with his most notable restricted free agent, sending 23-year-old winger JJ Peterka to Utah in a trade for defenseman Michael Kesselring and winger Josh Doan. But Bowen Byram, a 24-year-old RFA who spent a lot of time on Buffalo's top defensive pair last season, is still unsigned. Trade rumors have been persistent. Now that the calendar has turned to July, the threat of an offer sheet becomes real. But Adams said Wednesday the Sabres are prepared to match any offer sheet Byram would sign.
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'Absolutely,' Adams said. 'That's why the moves we've made and the position that we've put ourselves in from a cap perspective has been strategic. If you leave just enough room in your cap where you maybe see a projection on a one-year deal and then someone comes over the top, you're potentially putting your organization in a really tough spot. The moves we've made and decisions we've made for weeks now are with that in mind. We'll be matching and have the opportunity to have a player under contract who we think helps our team win.'
Part of the Sabres' reasoning on Byram is that Adams does not want to trade him for future assets. The compensation for an offer sheet would only be draft picks. At the moment, the Sabres have $12.8 million in cap space with 22 players under contract, according to PuckPedia. Byram and defenseman Conor Timmins are the only two restricted free agents who are still unsigned. Adams remains open to trading Byram, but only if the right situation presents itself.
Byram, the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. The Sabres traded for him at the 2024 trade deadline, sending Casey Mittelstadt to Colorado. Byram has arbitration rights as a restricted free agent and is two years away from unrestricted free agency. He played all 82 games last season and set a career high with 38 points.
'A lot of conversations with his agent right now and nothing's changed in the sense that we believe Bo is an excellent hockey player who can help our team win,' Adams said. 'I maintain the same position that if there's a deal out there that makes sense for us that we think is going to improve our roster, we're open to it. If there's not, we're not in a situation where we're looking to move him out or looking to move him for futures and stuff like that. For me, we want to help our team win hockey games, and he does that.'
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Adams also mentioned over the weekend that even with the trade rumors and contract negotiation, he views Byram as the type of person who will be able to put that to the side if he does return to Buffalo next season.'What I know about Bo Byram is if he's back, whether it's a one-year deal or two-year deal or eight-year deal, he's going to be all in and try to help us win,' Adams said after the draft. 'That's what I truly appreciate about Bo. We'll get to the right solution. It has to work for both sides. He understands how we feel about him, and he knows we're willing to do whatever we need to do to help our team get better. We've been very transparent both ways.'
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