As the Buffalo Sabres continue their ongoing rebuild, after missing the playoffs in 2024-2025 for the 14th season in a row — an all-time NHL record they wish they didn’t hold — they now find themselves in a position where they need to part ways with a top defenseman the team acquired at the trade deadline just a year-and-a-half ago.
And it is now reported — by Kevin Weekes of ESPN — that 23-year-old Bowen Byram is on the trade block and “generating plenty of interest in the market from multiple clubs exploring a potential trade with Buffalo Sabres for his services.”
The Colorado Avalanche made the British Columbia native the fourth overall pick in the 2019 NHL entry draft, and just three years later, in his second full season, Byram helped Colorado win its third Stanley Cup since relocating from Quebec, where they were known as the Nordiques, before the 1995-1996 season.
Restricted Free Agent Wants Out of Buffalo
Two seasons after that triumph, and shortly after signing a two-year, $7.7 million contract with Colorado, the defenseman described by Die By The Blade writer Kerra Mazzariello as an “elite talent with his smooth and fast skating, puck control, and calm demeanor,” found himself traded to a team that has never won a Stanley Cup in its 56-year existence.
Now, with his contract complete, Byram wants out of Buffalo, at one point last month reportedly packing up his home and disappearing from the city altogether.
The Sabres, on the other hand, are backed into a corner where they can either pay Byram who is a restricted free agent, or ship him out in a deal to bring in prospects who could, maybe, finally move their endless rebuild along.
According to one NHL expert, Zach Berta of The Hockey Writers, an Original Six team now in the midst of a nine-year playoff drought of its own would offer “a good opportunity” for a Byram trade.
“Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman has attempted to bring in aging veterans to mentor his younger players, but the approach hasn’t been successful, wrote Berta. “Now it’s time to switch things up and bring in young players that are just about to enter their prime and that starts with acquiring Byram.”
Why? Because “the Detroit Red Wings need a defenseman. Outside of Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson, their blue line is aging and weak. Luckily, all their contracts expire after the 2025-2026 season, except Seider’s,” according to Berta.
Swedish Prospect Would Head to Buffalo
The Sabres may have some hesitation about dealing their “potential top pair” defenseman to a divisional rival, but at this point it seems as if both teams should be in full-on “try anything” mode.
The trade piece who would head back to Buffalo, according to Berta?
“Axel Sandin-Pellikka would have to be the main asset being traded to the Sabres. Drafted 17th overall in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, he has yet to make his NHL debut but is one of the Red Wings’ top prospects who is looking to make the NHL roster come next season,” Berta wrote.
The 20-year-old Sandin-Pellikka is native of Gallivare, Sweden, who has played the past two seasons for Skelleftea AIK of the Swedish Hockey League, and two seasons for the Skelleftea junior team before that.
In the 2024-2025 season he came to the U.S. to play two regular season games and three Calder Cup playoff games for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL.
Expert’s Red Wings Trade Pitch Sees Good Fit For ‘Elite’ 23-Year-Old Defenseman