Blackhawks receive scathing review from ESPN over Bowen Byram trade

The Chicago Blackhawks have been the butt of jokes in recent years considering their fall from grace as an NHL dynasty to being stuck in a rebuild. Looking to carve their way out of the rebuild, general manager Kyle Davidson targeted who they believed to be their next top defenseman in Bowen Byram. The critics of the Blackhawks had more ammunition, so to speak, as the team gave up the fourth-overall pick, the No. 45 pick, and defenseman Louis Crevier for Byram, who they then signed to a six-year, $75 million contract.

Davidson and Blackhawks obviously felt as though Byram was a better option for them than taking one of the top defensemen in the draft class, whether it was Chase Reid, Alberts Smits, Carson Carels, or Keaton Verhoeff. Even though it's been over a week since the trade, the criticisms continue.

ESPN's Greg Wyshynski gave his review of some of the overreactions from some of the transactions made this offseason. Wyshynski called "the Blackhawks blew it with Byram" talking point not an overreaction, while writing a harsh review of the trade.

Bowen Byram trade receives rough review from ESPN

"The fourth overall pick, the 45th overall pick, the Blackhawks' leading scorer on defense and then taking on another team's problem contract on top of all of that? Thy name is overpayment. There's no debating that," writes Wyshynski.

"The debate is whether Byram can be what the Blackhawks want him to become. Other teams were seeking to trade for him. How many saw him as a No. 1 defenseman, as Chicago did?"

As is the case across all professional sports, it takes one team to really drive up a player's market. For Byram, the Blackhawks were focused on bringing him in as a top defensive option and to provide help offensively. It's not as though the Blackhawks were the only team in the running for Byram, as the New York Rangers were reported to be pursuing the defenseman. Ultimately, the Blackhawks deemed that including the fourth overall pick was suitable to acquire Byram.

Byram was in the middle of a logjam on Buffalo's strong defensive core, and expressed a desire to move on elsewhere by rejecting the chance to re-sign with the Sabres. Byram is coming off of a career season with the Sabres, where he put up 11 goals, 31 assists, 42 points, and a plus-15 plus/minus rating, all of which were career-highs.

The hope is that Byram can help bring the team out of the bottom of the Western Conference standings and back into the playoff picture for the first time since 2020. But Wyshynski believes they haven't done enough to break out, especially with teams like the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks on the rise.

"But the other issue is why they made this trade," writes Wyshynski. "There's obvious pressure to surround Connor Bedard with as much talent as possible as quickly as possible as he enters the fourth season of an NHL career that hasn't gotten him within a mile of a playoff berth. But while teams like San Jose and Utah and Anaheim have finally emerged from their rebuilds, Chicago was 31st in the NHL last season. The Blackhawks are very much in a rebuild. Giving up the fourth overall pick for Bowen Byram makes it seem as if they're in denial about that."

Anything is possible in the NHL. Look no further than Byram's former team. The Sabres had a horrific start to the season, resulting in general manager Kevyn Adams getting fired this past December. The Sabres then went on the run of all runs in the regular season and clinched their first playoff berth since 2011. The Sabres picked up a first-round series win over the Boston Bruins and went seven games in the second round against the Montreal Canadiens.

Maybe this upcoming season is where everything comes together for the Blackhawks. Maybe Byram is a missing piece to the puzzle? We won't find out until the we are deep into the 2026-27 season, but make no mistake about it, the pressure is on for the Blackhawks front office to show that the move for Byram was the correct one.

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