The Blackhawks are expected to sign new addition Bowen Byram to a massive contract at their first opportunity Wednesday when NHL free agency opens.
Byram will reportedly ink a six-year extension carrying a whopping $12.5 million salary-cap hit that will take effect in 2027-28, following the final season of his existing contract at a more reasonable $6.25 million cap hit.
A big contract became inevitable as soon as the Hawks acquired the 26-year-old defenseman from the Sabres last week, knowing was walking directly toward unrestricted free agency a year from now.
With Byram holding the majority of the leverage, general manager Kyle Davidson admitted the Hawks would have to “put our money where our mouth is,” and indeed they will.
Byram, to his credit, followed through on his word that he “plans on being in Chicago for a long time.” Having just gotten married last weekend, he was present Wednesday at Blackhawks Ice Center in an informal skate with Alex Vlasic and Artyom Levshunov.
As of now, Byram is slated to become the highest-paid defenseman in the league in 2027-28, which sounds absurd for a guy who wasn’t even a top-pairing defenseman on either of his previous two teams.
The Hawks strongly believe he will become a No. 1 stud when given the opportunity this coming season, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Granted, he will never actually hold that “highest-paid defenseman” title, since both Cale Makar (Avalanche) and Quinn Hughes (Wild) are now also eligible for extensions starting in 2027-28 that will definitely surpass $12.5 million cap hits.
This still represents a huge gamble for the Hawks, though, even if they had plenty of cap space with which to gamble.
This story will be updated.