Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson finally made a big trade Tuesday. How it pans out could determine his long-term legacy.
The Hawks acquired offensive defenseman Bowen Byram from the Sabres — as well as fourth-line forward Jordan Greenway — in Davidson’s first aggressive building-up move after years of rebuilding.
The cost, however, was high: the fourth and 45th overall picks in this weekend’s NHL draft, plus defenseman Louis Crevier.
The Hawks believed it was increasingly likely that if they kept the No. 4 pick, they would end up using it on a defenseman. The Sharks’ decision to trade forward William Eklund to the Senators for the No. 9 pick earlier Tuesday basically cemented that the Sharks will use the No. 2 pick on forward Ivar Stenberg, the Hawks’ preferred draft target.
This trade gives the Hawks an already developed, established defenseman instead of a dice roll — although one could argue that both Chase Reid and Carson Carels, the two defensemen the Hawks would’ve considered at No. 4, possess higher upside than Byram.
Ex-Hawks GM Stan Bowman infamously passed on Byram to take Kirby Dach with the No. 3 pick in 2019. Seven years later, Byram, now 25, ends up in Chicago after all.
Byram joins the Hawks with one year left on his current contract carrying a $6.25 million salary-cap hit. He’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, so signing him to a long-term extension is an obvious priority and likely will happen soon.
His time with the Avalanche was unfortunately marred by concussions, but he has played full 82-game seasons each of the last two years with the Sabres, and he took a major step toward becoming a top-pairing defenseman in 2025-26.
He set a career high offensively with 42 points while averaging 22:20 of ice time per game, and his defensive analytics — which were previously ugly — improved considerably. He moves the puck well, both when exiting the defensive zone and entering the offensive zone, and he eagerly jumps up into plays.
As a left-handed shot, he joins Alex Vlasic and Wyatt Kaiser on that side of the Hawks’ defense, which now looks fairly set long-term.
How much (or little) Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel develop this summer will determine the competency of the right side next season. Crevier’s departure hurts the depth on that side, too, in addition to denting the locker room — his optimistic personality was infectious and beloved.
Greenway, 29, gives the Hawks a veteran forward with fighting experience — a minor role they were also looking to fill this summer. He had some decent seasons in the past with the Wild, but he managed only 14 points in 74 games over the last two seasons combined with the Sabres.
There’s still a glaringly enormous hole in the Hawks’ cast of top-six forwards next to Connor Bedard, though, and the most straightforward opportunity to fill that hole — trading the No. 4 pick as part of a package for someone like Matthew Knies or Jason Robertson — is now gone.
Davidson has consistently failed to surround Bedard with quality linemates throughout the young star’s three seasons in the NHL, and he will have to get very creative over the next two weeks — and potentially give up someone he shouldn’t give up — in order to change that for next season.
Davidson likely hopes the addition of a defenseman with Byram’s offensive abilities will help elevate Bedard and the forwards, but it’s a massive gamble from any perspective.
Davidson deserves credit for at least doing something, though, given how reluctant he has been to do so in the past. Overpaying was probably unavoidable given the extreme sellers’ market that exists around the NHL this summer.