With free agency already picked over, the Minnesota Wild’s best bet to upgrade their roster this summer will be in the trade market. But although the official start of the league year is a week away, teams are already experiencing skyrocketing prices as the NHL Draft begins on Friday.
Brady Tkachuk already sent a shockwave through the NHL after his trade from the Ottawa Senators to the Florida Panthers but the Chicago Blackhawks also didn’t do a favor trading for Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram on Tuesday night.
The Blackhawks sent the fourth overall pick, a 2026 second-round pick (No. 45 overall) and defenseman Louis Crevier to Buffalo in exchange for Byram and former Wild forward Jordan Greenway and will likely work out a contract extension with Byram that could start with an AAV of $12 million per season per Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet.
While Byram gives the Blackhawks a veteran defenseman and a sign of effort to build a competitive team around Connor Bedard, it also is a massive overpay that could affect the Wild as they look for a top-line center and perhaps more this summer.
Wild will have to pay outrageous prices this summer after Bowen Byram trade.
There are some ways the Blackhawks can justify this trade. At the end of the year, Chicago was using six young defensemen on the blue line and Byram gives them a player who was ready to assume a top-line role. In 82 games, Byram tied a career high with 11 goals and set another with 42 points but it comes with a high-risk, high-reward style that puts pressure on his teammates and often creates high-danger chances for opponents.
In addition, the entire NHL knew that Buffalo was going to trade Byram due to their wealth of left-handed defensemen. Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power weren’t going anywhere under the new regime, but Chicago still threw the No. 4 overall pick, which could have been used on a top-six forward, and a second-rounder into the deal anyway, allowing the Sabres to absolutely fleece them before Byram signs a contract extension.
Turning back to the Wild, this could drive up the price of their targets on the market. A top-line center has been the headliner but Minnesota also needs help in their top-six. The Wild already dove in head first by offering the equivalent of four first-round picks for Tkachuk per The Athletic’s Michael Russo and deals for Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings or Vincent Trocheck of the New York Rangers could have a similar asking price after watching Chicago overpay for Byram.
The Byram deal is also significant in that the Wild could use their own changes to their defensive core. Jonas Brodin could get more than expected based on this deal, but acquiring someone to replace him, Jared Spurgeon or Jake Middleton could be difficult without a first-round pick in this draft or a second-round pick in each of the next three drafts.
The Wild probably saw this coming as teams have shifted to the trade market with free agency looking like a clearance sale more than Black Friday. But watching the Blackhawks give up a haul for Byram isn’t a positive development and one that could create issues for Minnesota as they look to make moves in the coming weeks.
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