Morning Chirps: Byram trade reaction, a crazy day in the NHL

Tuesday had more action than trade deadline day with multiple big deals going down across the NHL. The Chicago Blackhawks finally got involved in the action, but paid a high price to do so. Let’s see what Wednesday has in store for us.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks acquired defenseman Bowen Byram and forward Jordan Greenway from the Buffalo Sabres last night for the fourth-overall pick, the 45th pick, and Louis Crevier. This is a massive overpay, but with multiple teams bidding for Byram, the price was going to be costly. According to Darren Dreger, Byram is happy to be joining the Blackhawks and expects an extension to get done in the near future. The Blackhawks are a better team after this trade, and only time will tell whether the price was worth it. I can’t imagine this is the only move the team makes before training camp starts.

• I joined Jay Zawaski and Mario Tirabasi at the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast for some immediate reaction to the trade last night.

• Nick Villano wrote that this trade finally gives Byram his chance to live up to his draft expectations. He’ll get plenty of opportunity to be the top guy next season.  

• The 2025-26 season was a disappointment after the way it started. Injuries to Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar killed all the vibes from a good start, and the home stretch was full of struggles. Richard Jelinek takes a look at those individuals who had the most disappointing seasons.

• On this date in 1976, the Blackhawks signed Hall of Fame defenseman Bobby Orr. Unfortunately, the version of Orr the Blackhawks got was a shell of the player who dominated the league for 11 seasons with the Boston Bruins. Knee injuries limited him to only 26 games over two seasons before retiring.

• In 2006, the Blackhawks selected Jonathan Toews with the third overall pick of the NHL Entry Draft. He fell to three after the St. Louis Blues took Erik Johnson first and Jordan Stall went second to the Pittsburgh Penguins. I don’t think we need to explain how important that pick was.

• Seven years later, Toews and the Blackhawks won their second Stanley Cup in four years by beating the Bruins 3-2 in Game 6 of the Final. This was the night “17 Seconds” entered Chicago sports lore, as Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland scored 17 seconds apart late in the third period to stun the Boston crowd. Even watching this 13 years later, it still feels unbelievable.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, June 24: Johnny Gottselig, Dave Creighton, Tom Reid, Bernie Nicholls, Gary Suter, and Jean-Yves Leroux.

NHL Chirps

• Tuesday’s craziness started when the Calgary Flames acquired defenseman Simon Nemec and Maxim Tsyplakov from the New Jersey Devils for a pair of first-round draft picks (2027 & 2028) and a second-rounder in this year’s draft.

• Not long after that, the San Jose Sharks traded forward William Eklund and prospects Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda to the Ottawa Senators for the ninth pick in Friday’s draft. That was one of the picks Ottawa just acquired in the Brady Tkachuk trade. This move all but assured that the Sharks will draft Ivar Stenberg with the second overall pick, putting the wheels in motion on the Byram trade.

• The St. Louis Blues were hoping to get an established player, a prospect, and a draft pick for Jordan Kyrou, and they got their wish. They shipped Kyrou to the Washington Capitals for Connor McMichael, prospect Milton Gastrin, and the 16th pick in this year’s draft. The Blues now have four picks in the first round.

• Elliotte Friedman reported that Gary Bettman informed the Board of Governors that the NHL will begin investigating Houston or Austin, TX, for a possible expansion franchise.

• Also happening at the Board of Governors meeting, the Hoffman Group received unanimous approval to purchase the Penguins. On any other day, these two stories would be grabbing headlines!

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, June 24: Wayne Cashman, Uwe Krupp, Shane Churla, Jeff Daniels, Jere Lehtinen, Marek Malik, Jarrett Stoll, Mike Brown, Michael Del Zotto, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Vasily Podkolzin.

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