The Buffalo Sabres are set to trade defenseman Bowen Byram and forward Jordan Greenway to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for the No. 4 and 45 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft and defenseman Louis Crevier, according to league sources.What it means for the SabresByram, 25, has one year left on his contract that pays $6.25 million per year. After that, he will be an unrestricted free agent. Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen had expressed interest in signing Byram long-term, but Byram has been interested in a bigger role than the Sabres are able to offer. Last summer, he balked at the chance to sign a long-term contract and hired agent Darren Ferris, who has an established reputation for advising his clients to pursue unrestricted free agency.With uncertainty around whether Byram would commit to signing a longer deal, Kekäläinen decided to get what he could for Byram while his value was still high. It helped that Byram is coming off one of his best seasons in the NHL. He had career highs with 11 goals and 42 points and added seven points in 13 playoff games. Byram spent most of the year playing alongside Owen Power on the Sabres’ second pair while Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson played as Buffalo’s top pair. Byram also got some time with the Sabres’ second power-play unit. The fact that the Sabres have already signed Dahlin, Power and Samuelsson to long-term contracts made moving Byram a bit easier.Now the Sabres have to figure out how to replace Byram. They already traded right-handed defenseman Michael Kesselring to the Sharks to move up from No. 27 to No. 20 in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft. They have some promising prospects on the blue line but none that are ready to jump to the NHL. They have Zach Metsa, Conor Timmins and Ryan Johnson on one-way contracts next season, but all three profile more as third-pair options.