The situation between the Buffalo Sabres and Bowen Byram continues to get more interesting. On Sunday night, Elliotte Friedman announced that the Sabres have elected to take Byram to arbitration.
The player had until 5 p.m. Saturday to elect for arbitration. He didn’t, which opened the option for the team to elect instead. The Sabres had until 5 p.m. Sunday to make that decision, and chose to do so, which is somewhat surprising as it seems to give Byram the upper hand.
He can now decide between a one- or two-year contract. A two-year contract would take him into unrestricted free agency. On the plus side for the team, the Sabres electing for arbitration makes Byram ineligible to receive an offer sheet from another team.
Of course, regardless of all of this, there’s still potential for a trade, too. But how could that potential 2-year deal that would take him into UFA status affect a possible trade and its value?
Here’s what PuckPedia says about team-elected arbitration:
“Teams can take players to arbitration, to a maximum of 2 Team Elections per year. If a player received a Qualifying Offer but did not accept it, the team must offer an amount equal to or more than their pay in the previous season. The Team election window is from July 5 and 5pm to July 6 at 5pm. A player can only receive 1 Team Elected arbitration in their career, regardless of if the case was settled prior to the actual arbitration award. “