Bowen Byram is cashing in

We knew when Bowen Byram was acquired last week that his new contract extension would be expensive. This morning, multiple insiders, including Chris Johnston and Darren Dreger, reported that the new contract would be six years with a $12.5 million AAV. Scott Powers and Johnston later confirmed that this will be the deal once they are allowed to sign it at 11 am today.

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In typical fashion, there will be a lot of knee-jerk reactions to Byram’s salary cap hit. There will be references to the Seth Jones contract, or people might point out that Byram is now making more money than Connor McDavid. But that is comparing apples to oranges, as the markets are not nearly the same as when those contracts were signed.

Blackhawks general manager knew he was going to have to pay big money to keep Bryam around. He paid a huge price to outbid the San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers for his services, so the contract extension was going to be big. That’s the only way the Blackhawks are going to get back to being a destination: by overpaying for a few guys to get competitive again. Think back to the summer of 2008 when they paid big money for Christobal Huet and Brian Campbell. They were paid more than they were worth to join an up-and-coming team, but it paid off as Marian Hossa came on board the following offseason.

Byram is now locked in through the 2032-33 season, and at just 25, the Blackhawks are getting his prime years. If he becomes the No. 1 defenseman, as both he and Davidson believe he will, this contract will be a bargain within two years. Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar are about to make the market for defensemen skyrocket, so getting this done now saved the Blackhawks a lot of money down the road.

“We’re going to provide the opportunity to become one of the top defensemen around the league, and we feel 100 percent wholeheartedly that he can be that guy and he will be that guy,” Davidson said after acquiring Byram. “So, when you take it like that, a top-pair defenseman and we feel a potential No. 1 defenseman, there aren’t many pieces around the league that are more valuable than that.”

That’s the key to all of this. There will be no hand-wringing about what Davidson gave up and what he’s paying Byram if he’s an elite No. 1 defenseman. If he’s not, well, we know who will take the fall.

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