You can cross another name off the list of potential restricted free agent (RFA) targets by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On Monday, the Buffalo Sabres and RFA defenseman Bowen Byram avoided arbitration and agreed to a two-year extension worth $6.25 million annually. The contract runs through the end of the 2026-27 season.
Byram, 24, had been receiving a lot of attention on the trade market, and was one of the most viable options available on the back end. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound left defenseman registered seven goals and 38 points to go along with a plus-11 last season for the Sabres, and he has 33 goals and 110 points in 246 regular season games between the Sabres and the Colorado Avalanche, who drafted him fourth overall in 2019.
The Penguins have a glaring need on the left side of their blue line, so it might have made sense for Pittsburgh to pursue Byram in the RFA market. Penguins' GM and POHO Kyle Dubas made it known in his end-of-season press conference that he wasn't very interested in offer sheeting, and with Byram going to arbitration to cut that route off, any move for him would have involved a trade-then-sign.
As of now, Pittsburgh has Ryan Graves, Parker Wotherspoon, Ryan Shea, Alexander Alexeyev, and prospect Owen Pickering lined up on the depth chart for the left side. With RFA and UFA options dwindling, they will likely look to the cast they've already assembled for improvement.
Does Dabbling In RFA Market Make Sense For Penguins This Offseason?There were several interesting tidbits from Pittsburgh Penguins' GM and POHO Kyle Dubas's 2024-25 end-of-season press conference, which signaled the direction that the team might take over the summer and into the 2025-26 season and beyond.
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Feature image credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images