On each of his first two NHL teams, new Blackhawks defenseman Bowen Byram was stuck behind a superstar who blocked him from becoming a No. 1 defenseman.
With the Avalanche, it was Cale Makar. With the Sabres, it was Rasmus Dahlin.
On the Hawks, Byram will have no such hindrance — and he is, in fact, expected to develop into a No. 1 defenseman. Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson wouldn’t have traded the fourth overall pick if he didn’t foresee that as a likelihood.
Byram knows that, too.
“I’m just scratching the surface of what I can do,” Byram said Wednesday. “I’m really excited for this opportunity because it’s going to be a chance for me to blossom into the player I think I can be.”
Asked about Makar and Dahlin, he added that he’s also gleaned lessons from other strong former defensive teammates in Devon Toews, Josh Manson, Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson.
The fact he has always been surrounded by so much established talent isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially since that won’t be the case on the Hawks. Now those support systems are gone — and so are the shackles on his ice time.
“I can’t get too carried away,” Byram said. “I have to come in and prove what I can do. I’m confident in myself. I feel that, after this move, the Blackhawks are confident in me, too. It’s a great feeling to have a team believing in you.”
Davidson very much needs Byram to be right about the potential he possesses. This trade represents a massive risk. It’s not dramatic to say the overall rebuild’s success now partially depends on Byram’s success.
And the hockey world doesn’t share much of the Hawks’ internal confidence that this gamble will pay off. This trade, and Davidson’s asset management as a whole, has been mocked by many critics over the past two days. Davidson plans to hold out for the last laugh.
“We’re going to provide him the opportunity to become one of the top defensemen around the league, and we feel 100% wholehearted that he can and will be that guy,” Davidson said Wednesday. “So when you take it like that…there aren’t many pieces around the league that are more valuable.
“The natural progression of his game is going to find that value for us in the transaction.”
Davidson also believes Byram himself can take over a Dahlin-esque role by sheltering and helping develop young Hawks defensemen like Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel.
Byram did average more than 22 minutes per game during each of his two full seasons with the Sabres, but he never quarterbacked their top power-play unit. That’s another key role he will take over immediately with the Hawks.
Although some of the heat on Davidson has centered on him not using his most valuable trade chip to acquire a proven winger to accompany Connor Bedard, the Hawks expect Byram’s offensive abilities to benefit Bedard in less obvious yet still effective ways.
“I break the puck out well, I move the puck well and I think I’ll get the puck into the hands of our forwards quickly and efficiently,” Byram said. “That’s really important: You want your skilled forwards having the puck and creating and attacking.”
Byram and Bedard, as two British Columbia natives, are already friends. Bedard called Byram on Tuesday night — reportedly from a golf course — to express his excitement about the trade.
Byram is left-handed but has experience playing on both sides, which adds flexibility to the Hawks’ defensive lineup alongside Levshunov, Rinzel, Alex Vlasic, Wyatt Kaiser and Kevin Korchinski. The Hawks could still sign a veteran free-agent defenseman like Jacob Trouba or Mario Ferraro.
“I want to come to Chicago and help the team make the playoffs,” Byram said. “My experience in Buffalo showed me it can happen very quickly if everyone is on the same page.”
Contract talks
The focus now shifts to Byram’s contract situation. He’s currently a year away from unrestricted free agency, and he will become extension-eligible next Wednesday — the opening day of 2026 free agency.
“We’ll have to put our money where our mouth is…because we believe in this guy,” Davidson said. “We’re OK paying great players. If there’s an opportunity to acquire and retain a player that we believe is elite and a star, then we will do so and won’t blink in doing it.”
Byram claimed there haven’t been any contract talks yet with the Hawks, but he emphasized that he “plans on being in Chicago for a long time,” calling it “the place I wanted to end up.”
He explained he grew up a Hawks fan because his dad, Shawn, was a minor-league journeyman who played one game for the Hawks in 1991-92, as well as because he saw the dynasty Hawks beat his hometown Canucks so often as a kid.
He wanted the Hawks to draft him with the No. 3 pick in 2019, but they took Kirby Dach instead — foolishly, in retrospect. The Avalanche snagged him at No. 4.
“It’s funny how things have come full circle,” Byram said.
Sabres GM Jarmo Kekalainen told reporters Wednesday in Buffalo that Byram never engaged in contract talks with the Sabres this past season because he was focused on becoming a No. 1 defenseman somewhere.
Now that he has that title, there’s a strong chance his salary-cap hit will top $10 million — a threshold only four other defensemen around the league (Dahlin being one) currently exceed.
Forward question
Trade prices around the NHL are astronomical, and it sounds like the package the Hawks traded for Byram — the fourth and 45th picks plus Louis Crevier — would not have been enough to pry winger Matthew Knies out of Toronto.
The Hawks would’ve had to include a young core player like Levshunov, Rinzel, Vlasic or Anton Frondell to make that trade a reality, and they justifiably weren’t willing to pay that price.
Davidson mentioned the Hawks still have many other assets to offer in trade proposals, including three 2027 first-round picks, and they continue to scour the forward market. But he said they’re comfortable moving ahead with incoming Russian rookie Roman Kantserov as Bedard’s designated winger for next season if nothing comes to fruition.
“Maybe if we traded for Roman instead of just signing him, it would be more exciting and people would accept it as an option more than they currently do,” Davidson quipped.
Meanwhile, free agent-to-be Ilya Mikheyev is likely heading to open market. Physical veteran forward Jordan Greenway, acquired Tuesday along with Byram, could take over some of Mikheyev’s penalty-killing duties.