Bowen Byram is on the brink of a massive payday in Chicago, and the Blackhawks sound ready to make it happen as soon as they can.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said on Monday’s episode of 32 Thoughts that the Blackhawks are expected to sign Byram to an extension once he becomes eligible on July 1. Friedman described it as a long-term deal with a hefty cap hit.
“I do think we’ll see a Bowen Byram extension [on July 1]. I don’t think it will be an eight-year deal,” Friedman said at roughly the 48:20 mark of the episode. “It’s not going to be four, it’ll be longer than that, but it’s going to be a pretty big number, I think.”
Chicago has already made its intentions clear. After last week’s trade with the Buffalo Sabres, both Byram and general manager Kyle Davidson spoke about wanting to get an extension done quickly. Byram said he’s ready and excited to be in Chicago for a long time, and Davidson echoed that message.
“We’re confident Bo wants to be here, and we’ll be able to make sure he’s here for an extended period of time,” Davidson said. “We’re really excited about that… It will be a top priority as we enter July.”
Davidson didn’t try to hide the reality of what this will cost. Byram is coming off two strong seasons in Western New York, including a career-best 42 points in 2025-26. He helped fuel Buffalo’s second-half surge that ended the franchise’s 14-year playoff drought, then added seven points in 13 postseason games while logging just under 22:30 a night.
“Bowen’s age and expiration status as an unrestricted free agent next summer at 26, it’s incredibly rare, incredibly valuable to a player, especially in this burgeoning, upper-limit cap market… We’ll have to put our money where our mouth is literally and figuratively because we believe in this guy. We have to respect that and honor that in some way.
That’s something we’ll have to reckon with in contract negotiations. We’re okay paying great players, and if there’s an opportunity to acquire and retain a player we believe is elite and a star, we’ll do so and won’t blink in doing it.”
The trade package Chicago sent to Buffalo - including the No. 4 and No. 45 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft and defenseman Louis Crevier - tells you how highly the Blackhawks value Byram. The contract that follows will show even more. They appear prepared to pay him like a future No. 1 defenseman before he’s actually had to prove he can be that guy full-time.
The numbers floating around are eye-opening. Byram’s next deal is expected to come in north of $10 million against the cap, with reports suggesting it could climb as high as $12 million to $12.5 million. That would put him in the same neighborhood as Erik Karlsson, who is currently the NHL’s highest-paid defenseman with an $11.5 million cap hit for 2026-27.
Byram may not yet have the resume of a true No. 1 blue-liner, but the situation he’s been in has mattered. In Colorado, Cale Makar was the top dog.
In Buffalo, Rasmus Dahlin handled the heavy lifting. Chicago finally gives the 2019 No. 4 overall pick a chance to step into the spotlight and show he can be the centerpiece of a defense.
That’s the gamble here. Chicago is taking a big swing on a player who has never been asked to carry a blue line on his own. But Davidson seems comfortable with that risk, especially as the Blackhawks try to push their rebuild forward and become a more competitive team in 2026-27.
Byram’s deal, whatever the final number turns out to be, is going to be one of the biggest talking points of Chicago’s rebuild. The Blackhawks clearly believe in the talent. Now they’re preparing to pay for it.
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