The Buffalo Sabres have missed the playoffs in 14 consecutive seasons. That puts a lot of pressure on GM Kevyn Adams, who has been on the job for five unsuccessful years. After making some solid free agency moves, Adams made a strong declaration. The Sabres GM said that he will match any Bowen Byram offer sheet, and denied thinking about a trade.
“Absolutely,” Adams said about matching a Byram offer sheet, per The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn. “That’s why the moves we’ve made and the position that we’ve put ourselves in from a cap perspective have 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.
Byram is two years away from reaching unrestricted free agency, which makes a short-term deal dangerous for Buffalo. But after the Sabres picked up Michael Kesselring and signed Zac Jones, they have a logjam on defense. That could lead to a trade of Byram soon, but Adams says he won’t let him go via offer sheet.
A team interested in Byram should not send an offer sheet to Kevyn Adams and the Sabres. Not only has he said that he will match it, but a team could send a player in a trade, but not on an offer sheet. Buffalo has a strong blue line on paper and two promising, young goalies. They need to add scoring around Tage Thompson and could use Byram as a way to add it.
Could a Bowen Byram trade be coming for the Sabres?
Adams was then naturally asked about a trade, and denied interest. “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,” Adams said, per Fairburn.
The Sabres do have a plethora of defenseman and could use scoring. While Adams may not want to trade Byram, he may improve the team by doing so.
An RFA-swap with the Minnesota Wild for Marco Rossi could make a lot of sense. Even though Minnesota is trying to clear space for a Kirill Kaprizov extension, they need to improve to make noise in the postseason. Byram helps fill out some holes, while Rossi could provide scoring from the center position, which Buffalo desperately needs.
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