The Blackhawks are going to sign new addition Bowen Byram to a massive contract Wednesday during the first day of NHL free agency.
Byram will reportedly ink a six-year extension carrying a whopping $12.5 million salary-cap hit that will take effect in 2027-28, following the final season of his existing contract at a more reasonable $6.25 million cap hit.
Byram said shortly after noon Wednesday that the contract isn’t finalized yet but should be soon.
A big contract became inevitable as soon as the Hawks acquired the 26-year-old defenseman from the Sabres last week, knowing was walking directly toward unrestricted free agency a year from now.
With Byram holding the majority of the leverage, general manager Kyle Davidson admitted the Hawks would have to “put our money where our mouth is,” and indeed they will. Byram, to his credit, also followed through on his word that he “plans on being in Chicago for a long time.”
Having just gotten married last weekend, Byram was in Chicago on Wednesday, first taking part in an informal skate with Alex Vlasic and Artyom Levshunov and later touring houses around the city.
“[The Hawks] have showed a lot of faith in me, and they’ve given up a lot and committed to me in many, many ways,” Byram said. “Now the pressure is in my court to perform, so I’m excited for that opportunity.
“I don’t think pressure is anything that I’m not totally used to. I’ve been under the gun my whole career, whether it’s trade rumors or pressure to perform.”
As of now, Byram is slated to become the highest-paid defenseman in the league in 2027-28, which sounds absurd for a guy who wasn’t even a top-pairing defenseman on either of his previous two teams.
The Hawks strongly believe he will become a No. 1 stud when given the opportunity this coming season, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Granted, he will never actually hold that “highest-paid defenseman” title, since both Cale Makar (Avalanche) and Quinn Hughes (Wild) are now also eligible for extensions starting in 2027-28 that will definitely surpass $12.5 million cap hits.
This still represents a huge gamble for the Hawks, though, even if they had plenty of cap space with which to gamble.
This story will be updated.