Sabres have elected arbitration with Byram

[PerreaultForever]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I'm good with 3 years of Byram in exchange for 6 months of Mitts. At this point, I think Byram on defense makes us better than Ryan Johnson or Bryson or more minutes for Samuelsson 

 

Well of course he does. He's better than those stiffs but you aren't going to build a winning team and culture with these sort of temporary fixes. 

Now I have heard Byram wanted 9 million and no way do I think we should have paid that, but I'd rather have traded him and made moves to fill that void. Orlov or somebody could have been signed to temporarily fill the Byram hole if Adams was on the ball. The way this is trending I think it will all fall apart within 2 years.

[PromoTheRobot]

32 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Yea... sure he could. 

"According to AFP Analytics’ offseason contract projections, Byram is worth roughly $5.2 million on a one-year contract. That’s a useful starting point for estimating his award." https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6477038/2025/07/06/bowen-byram-sabres-salary-arbitration/

A couple days in UFA is what? 85% of all unrestricted free agents gone. 

I was basing the $9MM figure from a 32 Thoughts pod where they were guessing Byram's next deal. They felt that's his worth.

[spndnchz]

Sabres elected arbitration?

[Flashsabre]

Who was this offer sheet coming from?

4 things:

1) You need all your own pick next year to make one.

2) You have to be a team that is confident you will make the playoffs next year and have enough cap space to fit Byram’s salary in.

3) Next year is the McKenna draft. No team with a lot of cap space is going to risk handing their unprotected first to Buffalo and watch them win the lottery with it and draft McKenna.

4) Sabres aren’t in a Cap crunch so they can match the offer.

The offer sheet was made up by Byram’s agent and spoon feed to Dreger to release publicly. Notice that all the other insiders disputed that one would come. 

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I was basing the $9MM figure from a 32 Thoughts pod where they were guessing Byram's next deal. They felt that's his worth.

That's because Friedman gets his into fed to him by player agents but that's not what he's going to get in arbitration and not what the Sabres offered or he'd be signed. 

[PromoTheRobot]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

That's because Friedman gets his into fed to him by player agents but that's not what he's going to get in arbitration and not what the Sabres offered or he'd be signed. 

I always thought arbitrators tend to favor the players.

[thewookie1]

25 minutes ago, Weave said:

Fan fiction.

So then why hasn’t a trade been made yet? Aside from SJS and Philly, the other teams apparently interested in Byram are playoff teams not looking to subtract from their present roster. Adams wants NHLers and those playoff teams are unlikely to either have the cap space or present pieces to make a deal. I highly doubt Adams has 5 great offers on the table of NHL players and is sitting on his hands for the sake of it. 

 

12 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Who was this offer sheet coming from?

4 things:

1) You need all your own pick next year to make one.

2) You have to be a team that is confident you will make the playoffs next year and have enough cap space to fit Byram’s salary in.

3) Next year is the McKenna draft. No team with a lot of cap space is going to risk handing their unprotected first to Buffalo and watch them win the lottery with it and draft McKenna.

4) Sabres aren’t in a Cap crunch so they can match the offer.

The offer sheet was made up by Byram’s agent and spoon feed to Dreger to release publicly. Notice that all the other insiders disputed that one would come. 

Less actual evidence and more the general threat of one would be my guess.

[Taro T]

17 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I always thought arbitrators tend to favor the players.

1/2 of the arbitrators are selected by the union and 1/2 are selected by the league.

They alternate in getting to choose dates and arbitrators.

Edited 1 hour ago by Taro T

[thewookie1]

17 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

That's because Friedman gets his into fed to him by player agents but that's not what he's going to get in arbitration and not what the Sabres offered or he'd be signed. 

He’ll be rewarded 6.5 or 7mil by arbitration would be my guess. He certainly won’t get 8 or 9 mil AAV, especially if he asks for 2 years. 

[Weave]

1 hour ago, thewookie1 said:

So then why hasn’t a trade been made yet?

No idea, and I am not inclined to expand upon one of an uncountable number of possibilities and run with that to some conclusion.  It’s literally fiction.

[krakensabr56390]

The thing is, a short term deal vis arb is going to come in a lot lower than he wants.

The Miller contractor 7.5 million per year, but it buys up a lot of UFA years. These are only RFA years we’re talking about which are less valuable in terms of contract comp.

so he will probably come in under that with an award, and I’m sure that’s not what he’s looking for with his injury history.

 

also, not being too on the nose, he had a chance to do the same thing yesterday and declined to do it. Therefore, it does not seem the path that he wanted to take… For those saying the Sabres are doing a dumb thing. He must’ve thought it advantageous to not be in the situation that he is now in.

Edited 16 minutes ago by krakensabr56390

[dudacek]

3 hours ago, Thorny said:

As long as you keep scoring with promo I know I don’t need to respond 

(but in seriousness I’ve explained it)

Yep. Left after my post and didn’t pick up this thread and see your follow-up until now.

Short version: it’s not the arb decision itself pissing you off, it’s the mounting evidence that this is turning into a squandered opportunity to make the team better?

Absolutely fair, if so, particularly in the context of your low opinion of Byram.

Edited 1 minute ago by dudacek

[dudacek]

I like Byram, I like the look of the defence right now, and see this getting us closer to adding a Rust or someone similar while keeping that D. So I like it in that context.

I just wish I was more confident they will be able to make that moves if they want to.

If you look at all the excess cap space around the league, there will be a lot of teams looking for Rakells and the price will be high.