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Every day through early May, Sabres.com will be recapping each player’s performance with all the numbers, highlights, quotations and content that tell the story of their 2024-25 season.

Bowen Byram, D

82 GP | 7 G | 31 A | 38 P | +11

Season at a glance

Byram was all things for the Sabres as he took on the heaviest workload of his young career.

He was a defensively reliable partner for Rasmus Dahlin, with whom he spent over 600 minutes at 5-on-5. Their plus-20 goal differential in those minutes was tied as the best by any pair in the NHL, matched only by Colorado's Cale Makar and Devon Toews.

He was, when needed, a physical combatant, like when he fought Red Wings forward Dominik Shine during a tension-filled game in Detroit on March 13. And he was a willing shot blocker, tied for the team lead with 116 (including the block to seal Buffalo’s win on the night of Rob Ray’s induction into the Sabres Hall of Fame).

Despite all of those duties – plus regular roles on the power play and the penalty kill – Byram managed to play all 82 games, one of two Sabres to accomplish that feat. His career-high in total ice time (1,861:10) ranked 20th among NHL players.

“I’ve been lucky enough to come in and get a really good opportunity and play important minutes and meaningful minutes and I’ve really enjoyed that,” Byram said. “I’ve taken some strides in my game and I’ll continue to try to improve and determined to be the best version of myself as possible.”

Number to know: 35

Byram’s 35 even-strength points ranked 15th among NHL defensemen.

Watch this

Watch the top plays from Byram's 1st full year in Buffalo.

They said it

“First off, first thought’s always disappointment. I look at our team and I do think that we should be playing the next few days in a playoff series. But that’s on us as players. Yeah, it sucks, but all in all I enjoyed my year. We have a great group of guys in the dressing room, we all get along, and we’re all trying to figure this thing out together. It’s tough. It’s never fun losing and whatever. But I know that everyone’s committed to trying to figure this out and that’s what we’re going to try and do.” – Byram on his assessment of the Sabres’ season during his end-of-year press conference

End-of-season press conference

Bo Byram addresses the media

Up next

Byram is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer. The length of his next deal – be it a long-term contract or short-term bridge – will be determined based on conversations early this offseason.

“I think Bo had an excellent season,” general manager Kevyn Adams said. “He’s a Stanley Cup champion at a very young age and extremely talented and when we traded for him (in March 2024), we didn’t exactly know how he’d fit. We were willing to kind of make that bet and say, ‘Let’s bring in a really, really good hockey player and see how it shakes out.’

“I think he had a nice season. Did a lot of good things for us, and we’re going to start to talk about that now as we get into the offseason. What makes the most sense for our season, just the way our roster sits, long-term versus short-term contracts, and obviously salaries? It’s a hard question to answer, but I guess what I would say is he’s a really good player and we’ll be open to anything.”

Byram was asked during his end-of-season press conference whether he could envision himself in Buffalo long-term.

“For sure,” he said. “We have a great crew of guys in the locker room and a lot of great players. It’s tough when things don’t work out in terms of success for the team. We’ll regroup and come back next season ready to go. And in terms of my contract, I think I’ll talk to my camp and talk to Kevyn and we’ll figure out what the next step is. I’m excited for that process. Kevyn’s great to work with and very communicative of what he wants and what he thinks is best for myself and the team.”