NHL insiders update on Bowen Byram offer sheet speculation as Sabres star inches closer to exit - "Won't get him at $9M AAV"

Buffalo Sabres RFA blue liner Bowen Byram could be the target of an offer sheet this summer amid speculation regarding his future with the team.

In a discussion on Sportsnet 590 The Fan published on July 1, insiders Elliotte Friedman and Nick Kypreos talked about the likelihood of Bowen Byram being targeted with an offer sheet this summer.

The insiders concluded that getting Byram will take a substantial pay day to make it work.

Kypreos speculated that Byram could make upwards of $10 million AAV on the open market, prompting him to declare:

“You won’t get him at 9 (million).”

The statement encapsulated the perceived value in Byram.

To Kypreos’ point, Friedman compared Byram’s value to that of Ivan Provorov. Friedman declared:

"[Ivan] Provorov just got $8.5M, it'll be up there... I heard with [Bowen] Byram, they were thinking about doing a 1-year offer sheet.

Check out the conversation here:

Provorov signed a new contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, a seven-year deal worth $59.5 million. That’s the range Friedman estimates Byram could fetch as part of an offer sheet.

It’s worth pointing out that Bowen Byran is coming off a two-year, $7.70 million bridge deal originally signed with the Colorado Avalanche. Byram was then traded to the Sabres in the deal that sent Casey Mittelstadt to Colorado.

If Byram is targeted with an offer sheet, the Sabres will have an opportunity to match it or receive the compensation corresponding to the offer sheet’s value.

Looking at the compensation for a Bowen Byram offer sheet

Bowen Byram could be the target of an offer sheet this summer - Source: Imagn

One of the assumptions Friedman and Kypreos made was that the Buffalo Sabres could match an offer sheet much the same way the Carolina Hurricanes did with Sebastian Aho. In 2019, Aho signed an offer sheet worth $42 million from Montreal. The Hurricanes quickly matched it and kept Aho in the fold.

That’s a scenario the insiders feel could play out once again this summer. But if the Sabres choose to decline to match, the club could receive the corresponding compensation. If a team were to issue a $9 million offer sheet, the compensation would be a first, second, and third-round draft pick, as Justin Bourne pointed out.

The insiders agreed that such a compensation package is not worthwhile for Buffalo, as they are looking to compete now. Thus, getting current assets, not future ones, would be in the Sabres’ best interest.

Ultimately, the consensus was that the Sabres would be better trading Byram, like they did with JJ Peterka, than lose him via an offer sheet. It remains to be seen if any NHL clubs would be interested in issuing an offer sheet to Bowen Byram.