Bowen Byram finally has a chance to live up to his draft expectations in Chicago

The Colorado Avalanche thought they were given a gift at the 2019 NHL Draft. Just two years after Cale Makar fell into their lap at the 2017 NHL Draft, another superstar defenseman prospect came right behind him. Bowen Byram was considered a supreme prospect at the time. 

Corey Pronman of The Athletic called Byram a “projected number-one defenseman” who particularly brought a huge piece to Colorado’s organization. Chris Peters, then of ESPN, called Byram “the best defenseman in (the 2019) draft by a fairly large margin.” Fansided’s grade at the time (via Puck Prose) was an “A+” for Colorado’s draft class, specifically because Byram fell to them at four. 

Coming out of a 71-point season in the WHL, Byram had everything you wanted from a modern defenseman. His skating was elite, with the ability to both get him into offensive positioning and get him out of trouble defensively. His passing was next level, especially his stretch passing. The stick check was unbelievable, causing turnovers at an incredible rate. The pick was a slam dunk, and the Avalanche had themselves yet another superstar on their hands to build themselves a dynasty.

That is, until they felt like they could use a strength to address a weakness. In a somewhat surprising move, the Avalanche traded Byram to the Buffalo Sabres for Casey Mittlestadt. 

It was an odd trade because the Sabres already had number-one overall picks Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power on the roster. They didn’t need a number-one defenseman on either side. So, that pushed Byram to second banana again, something he had already been dealing with in Colorado.

It took a while, but Byram is finally showing that offensive ability we all expected from him in Colorado. He had 42 points this past season despite playing on the second line away from Rasmus Dahlin. He also had half as many power-play minutes as Dahlin in the regular season. 

The Chicago Blackhawks are hoping the talent of Bowen Byram shows up on the ice

On Tuesday night, Byram was traded again. This time, he was moved for a haul, showing that at least one team believes in the 25-year-old defenseman. The Chicago Blackhawks sent the fourth-overall pick, the first top-five pick to be moved, knowing it was a top-five pick in 18 years, the 45th-overall pick, and Louis Crevier for Byram and Jordan Greenway.

In Chicago, Byram instantly becomes their number-one defenseman. The expectation is he will pair with Alex Vlasic. This is a chance to show what he can do when he’s given the opportunity he was essentially promised when he was the first defenseman taken in the draft. 

Chicago has seen what Spencer Knight can do when given the rock. They took a chance on him when they traded for him from the Florida Panthers, and that couldn’t have worked out better. Byram is a similar situation.

Many are saying that the Blackhawks would have been better off taking a defenseman with the pick and adding him to this roster on an entry-level deal, but eventually, a team has to have players in their prime. They need a reason to go to the Chicago Blackhawks besides wildly outpaying players. Knight was the first proof of concept, and now Byram can be the second.

If they begin to turn players into superstars by simply giving them the opportunity to do so, that will become an appealing target for other free agents and disgruntled trade targets. 

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