{"id":630968,"date":"2026-07-25T20:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/630968\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T20:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:57:13","slug":"phr-mailbag-byram-blackhawks-hughes-brothers-winners-and-losers-maple-leafs-gauthier-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/630968\/","title":{"rendered":"PHR Mailbag: Byram, Blackhawks, Hughes Brothers, Winners And Losers, Maple Leafs, Gauthier \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Chicago\u2019s offseason, early winners and losers, Cutter Gauthier<\/a>\u2019s situation, and more.\u00a0 If your question doesn\u2019t appear here, check back in last weekend\u2019s column<\/a> while we have two more coming from our latest call for questions.<\/p>\n

PyramidHeadcrab: Bowen Byram<\/a> is not a bad player. He\u2019s quite talented. He was also the third-best defenseman on Buffalo, and yet, Chicago gave away a top pick (#4 overall) to acquire his signing rights, and then signed him to a massive overpay.<\/p>\n

I am not going to argue this is a Jeff Finger<\/a> situation; obviously, Byram is talented. But as a series of moves from Chicago taken together, this looks like some of the poorest asset management the league has seen in quite some time \u2013 and that\u2019s in a league where Stan Bowman is somehow a GM and not serving popcorn in the OHL.<\/p>\n

If we use historical precedent for comparables, how, if at all, does this hobble Chicago\u2019s odds of returning to contention?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think this hobbles Chicago\u2019s odds at all.\u00a0 They\u2019re a team that\u2019s still loaded in young talent with a very deep prospect pipeline.\u00a0 And now they have someone who gives their back end a significant boost in Byram.<\/p>\n

I think the calculus here was this.\u00a0 When San Jose traded William Eklund<\/a> to Ottawa, that signaled that they\u2019d take a forward at second overall.\u00a0 They were pretty confident Vancouver would too at number three, meaning that Chicago would be picking a potential top-pairing defenseman down the road if they stayed at number four.\u00a0 Instead, they traded for someone who they think can be a top-pairing defender now.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not as if Byram only has a few good years left in him.\u00a0 He just turned 25.\u00a0 He should just be entering the prime years of his career now.\u00a0 Those prime years should last close to the duration of the six-year contract he just signed, meaning he should be a high-impact core player whenever Chicago makes it back to the postseason and emerges from their rebuild.<\/p>\n

Byram has not had the opportunity to be the number one blueliner and that\u2019s part of the impetus for the big extension.\u00a0 He was behind Rasmus Dahlin<\/a> for prime minutes in Buffalo and behind Cale Makar<\/a> before that in Colorado.\u00a0 Now, he\u2019s going to be getting top minutes on the power play and probably playing with the top line a lot at five-on-five.\u00a0 Accordingly, I\u2019m expecting a significant jump in production if he stays healthy, going from 42 to the 60-point range and based on the contract, GM Kyle Davidson is expecting that as well.<\/p>\n

Did they pay a hefty price for him?\u00a0 Absolutely, both in terms of the acquisition cost and the contract.\u00a0 But the Blackhawks think Byram can be a 25-minute all-situations player and instead of waiting a few years for a draft pick to show signs of getting there, they have one who they feel can be one now.\u00a0 It\u2019s a big gamble but if it pays off, I don\u2019t think this sets them back at all from a long-term perspective.<\/p>\n

Unclemike1526: Would it be in the Hawks\u2019 best interest to acquire Jordan Binnington<\/a> from the Blues to be a backup for Knight? Let\u2019s say a 2nd round pick in \u201927 and the Blues retain $2MM of Binnington\u2019s $6MM deal? Soderblom is no answer and Commesso is unproven and Binnington could bridge the gap to Gajan who, with Knight, seems to be the future. Trade Commesso because you don\u2019t need Gajan, Berezhnoy, and Commesso at Rockford. Nobody gets enough playing time in that scenario. Could Commesso bring back a decent RHD prospect at least? Thanks.<\/p>\n

If the acquisition price was that low to get Binnington, then sure, it\u2019d be in their best interest to help in the short term.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t think St. Louis would have any interest in doing that.\u00a0 If they\u2019re eating a third of the contract before the season starts, it\u2019s going to cost more than a second-round pick.\u00a0 It\u2019s also unclear if new Blues GM Alex Steen would be willing to trade him within the division to a rival.\u00a0 Given how St. Louis appears to be operating as a retooler and not a rebuilder, I\u2019m not convinced that they\u2019re looking to move him at all right now.\u00a0 Instead, they\u2019ll start the season with their current tandem and then reassess closer to the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think Davidson is all that interested in making a move to upgrade on Arvid Soderblom<\/a>, at least to the level of bringing in a significant upgrade that\u2019s going to cost an asset of some value.\u00a0 If Knight is good for 55 starts again, you\u2019re asking for no more than 29 from Soderblom.\u00a0 An upgrade might get a few more wins but I don\u2019t think the Blackhawks are that close to the playoffs where an incremental improvement is going to matter all that much.\u00a0 The defense in front of him should be at least a little better this season as well so they\u2019re not completely ready to pull the plug.\u00a0 And if they are, they\u2019re probably going to want to give Drew Commesso<\/a> a look.<\/p>\n

Last season was a down year for Commesso which doesn\u2019t help his trade value but it shouldn\u2019t crater it either.\u00a0 Generally speaking, I think he could bring back a decent right-shot blueliner prospect in return, which would be something in between the recent values we\u2019ve seen.\u00a0 Sebastian Cossa<\/a> yielded a first-round pick while Devon Levi<\/a>, out of waiver exemption as well, only fetched a third-rounder and a seventh.\u00a0 I\u2019m not overly worried about a three-goalie logjam in Rockford to start the season either.\u00a0 Those tend to resolve themselves relatively quickly, between injuries, recalls, or the potential for one to get some short-term minutes in the ECHL.\u00a0 It can be managed.<\/p>\n

Unclemike1526: As far as the Blackhawks go, I\u2019m getting a bit concerned. Davidson has done a good job so far but I really thought this would be a \u201dGo all in\u201d offseason this year. Now, I love the Byram move as the Hawks needed a #1 defenseman and I don\u2019t mind the price because he\u2019s a winner. Plus, I thought with a shiny new extension, Davidson would do more with some extra job security but he seems more likely to keep following the \u2018my kids will pan out\u2019 game plan. Could he be an A to B GM? Is he the guy to take them from B to C? He needs a decent backup goalie to challenge Knight and a right-shot defenseman still at least, right? Now with Bedard out again who steps in for him? Thanks as always.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s stick with the Blackhawks.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think this was the right summer to go all in.\u00a0 They\u2019re still well behind Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota, the top three teams in the Central Division last season.\u00a0 They\u2019re a fair way behind Utah as well.\u00a0 Nashville should be better than last year, Winnipeg is still in the mix, and St. Louis still looks competitive if nothing else.\u00a0 They\u2019re not a playoff-caliber team yet.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure they\u2019re all that close yet, to be honest.\u00a0 This summer was about getting closer.\u00a0 In acquiring and extending Byram, they\u2019ve done that.\u00a0 A core defender gets them closer to taking that next step.\u00a0 Patrick Kane<\/a> buys them a short-term upgrade as well.\u00a0 But they\u2019re not near playoff level yet.<\/p>\n

Davidson is in a tough spot right now.\u00a0 I have no doubt that he tried to take some other swings in an effort to add another core piece that was ready to contribute next season.\u00a0 It just didn\u2019t happen.\u00a0 Whether that\u2019s an inability on his end to get the deal done or something more out of their control (such as trade protection being invoked, for example) remains to be seen.\u00a0 Accordingly, I wouldn\u2019t interpret the general inaction (beyond Byram and Kane) as just relying on the kids.\u00a0 He could be more of the transitional GM you suggest but let\u2019s see how things go as more of the young players show they\u2019re ready.\u00a0 That\u2019s when their trade value ramps up more, giving Davidson his best shot to capitalize.\u00a0 If it still doesn\u2019t happen then, then it\u2019s probably fair to start wondering about that question.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already covered the backup situation about so let\u2019s focus on the other two points.\u00a0 Another right-shot defender wouldn\u2019t hurt although Ian Cole<\/a> can play his off-side.\u00a0 The problem is that there aren\u2019t many in free agency.\u00a0 There\u2019s John Klingberg<\/a>, Nick Blankenburg<\/a>, Jeff Petry<\/a>, and that\u2019s about it in terms of NHL help.\u00a0 The latter two are more depth options while Klingberg could give them a boost offensively but he\u2019d also take away offensive chances from the likes of Sam Rinzel<\/a> and Artyom Levshunov<\/a>.\u00a0 If Davidson wants one of them to spend more time in Rockford, Klingberg would make sense but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the case.\u00a0 I think they\u2019ll go into camp with what they have and if they need another righty, they\u2019ll keep an eye on the waiver wire.<\/p>\n

Connor Bedard<\/a>\u2019s injury opens up a big hole down the middle but there\u2019s no way to fill that externally.\u00a0 And with this already looking like another year of the rebuild, I\u2019m not sure they should want to do anything big to try to fill that with a stopgap.\u00a0 To start the season, it opens up a spot for Anton Frondell<\/a> to play regularly down the middle with Frank Nazar<\/a> probably covering on the top line.\u00a0 If they want to try to get Ryan Donato<\/a> going early, that could be another option although he\u2019s not great down the middle.\u00a0 I prefer Nazar and Frondell being the top two centers to start the season though.<\/p>\n

Jaysen: Boldy and Faber to New Jersey for the Hughes brothers. Am I nuts? Or am I missing a couple of add-ons to make this work?<\/p>\n

Straight up, I don\u2019t think the Devils make this trade with one caveat.\u00a0 If the Hughes brothers say they want to go play together in Minnesota, then this is a workable framework to build off to allow New Jersey to secure a quality return and get some core pieces back.\u00a0 Brock Faber<\/a> is a solid second defender while Matt Boldy<\/a> just keeps getting better and is a legitimate top-line winger already.<\/p>\n

I think the Wild might have a challenge affording all three of them though.\u00a0 Kirill Kaprizov<\/a> is locked in at $17MM.\u00a0 It sounds like Quinn Hughes<\/a>\u2019 next contract will be in that range as well, possibly timed to end at the same time as Jack Hughes<\/a> is up for a new deal.\u00a0 If that happens, both Quinn and Jack could plausibly be pushing for $20MM in 2030.\u00a0 Luke Hughes<\/a> will still be signed for $9MM at that time.\u00a0 Now we\u2019re talking about four players making around $66MM combined with the projected salary cap probably somewhere between $130MM and $140MM if the current revenue projections hold.\u00a0 That would put the Hughes trio and Kaprizov between 47% and 50% of the Upper Limit.\u00a0 Can a team win with that much tied in a Core Four?\u00a0 Just ask Toronto how hard that was, and that was with a lower percentage than this.<\/p>\n

Similarly, I don\u2019t think the Devils are ready to give up on their own goals of having the three together.\u00a0 Their next-highest-paid player is Nico Hischier<\/a> at $11.7MM moving forward, giving them a bit more wiggle room than Minnesota\u2019s scenario.\u00a0 I don\u2019t hate the framework but unless the Devils find out that they can\u2019t re-sign Jack, I don\u2019t see them wanting to do something like this.<\/p>\n

MoneyBallJustWorks: Two-parter: 1) Who are your offseason winners and losers as of today?\u00a0 2) The Leafs clearly focused on addressing their bottom six, but the fact they didn\u2019t add another playmaker in the top six and are stuck with Morgan Rielly<\/a>, is this a successful first offseason for John Chayka or a sign of things to come?<\/p>\n

For me, the winner of the offseason so far is Washington.\u00a0 They added one of the top wingers available on the trade market in Jordan Kyrou<\/a>.\u00a0 They added the top free agent in Alex Tuch<\/a>.\u00a0 They brought back Alex Ovechkin<\/a>.\u00a0 They\u2019re set to get a full season out of Cole Hutson<\/a>, whose offensive contributions should help cover what they lost from John Carlson<\/a>\u2019s trade at the deadline.\u00a0 This is a solid group built to win now that has the potential to at least push Carolina in the Metropolitan Division.\u00a0 Six weeks ago, I didn\u2019t think anyone was going to give the Hurricanes a run for their money.<\/p>\n

As for the losers, two come to mind.\u00a0 The first is Detroit.\u00a0 Outgoing GM Steve Yzerman has done little to improve their team.\u00a0 They\u2019ve lost more talent than they\u2019ve gained and their captain wants out, threatening to further weaken their group.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to see a scenario where they\u2019re going to push to end their 10-year playoff drought.<\/p>\n

The second is Seattle and it\u2019s not for a lack of trying from GM Jason Botterill.\u00a0 He was willing to pay a hefty price to land Jason Robertson<\/a>, both in terms of acquisition and contract but the winger took a pass.\u00a0 The problem is that whatever their Plan B was didn\u2019t work out.\u00a0 Yes, they re-signed Bobby McMann<\/a> and added Mackie Samoskevich<\/a>, believing he has more to give.\u00a0 That\u2019s good.\u00a0 But they also lost Jaden Schwartz<\/a>, Eeli Tolvanen<\/a>, and Jamie Oleksiak<\/a> and didn\u2019t bring in anyone else of consequence.\u00a0 They remain a team that\u2019s too talented to bottom out and not talented enough to make a real push for a playoff spot and are entering the season with two of their top players (Jared McCann<\/a> and Vince Dunn<\/a>) heading into walk years.\u00a0 That\u2019s not a good spot to be in.<\/p>\n

As for Toronto, I feel like John Chayka built a bottom six up front that\u2019s well-suited for Craig Berube\u2019s style.\u00a0 The problem is that Berube was fired already, so it will be Jim Hiller benefiting from it.\u00a0 Considering his coaching style, that should work too.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think they did enough to improve their offense and appear to be leaning into an identity where they try to win 3-2 or 2-1 a lot of nights.\u00a0 If Sergei Bobrovsky<\/a> is in form, they\u2019ll have a real shot.\u00a0 Otherwise, I think this will go down as an unsuccessful summer for them.\u00a0 More firepower would have been a big help.<\/p>\n

Regarding Morgan Rielly, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a bad thing if he stays.\u00a0 Darren Raddysh<\/a> will cover some of the bigger offensive minutes that Rielly isn\u2019t as well-suited to cover anymore.\u00a0 If Rielly plays like a capable number three defender (and I think he can), he can be an asset.\u00a0 I\u2019d be curious to see if Hiller\u2019s tweaks to the system set Rielly up more for success.\u00a0 If so, not moving him could be a blessing in disguise.<\/p>\n

Jolly Roger: Hiring coach Q has been Verbeek\u2019s best piece of business. Ironically, it can also cost him his job. Without his dramatic improvement under coach Q, Carlsson wouldn\u2019t have gotten his $18M. How far in the playoffs this season the Ducks have to progress in order to save Verbeek\u2019s job?<\/p>\n

And what strategy do you expect Verbeek to employ signing Cutter? Offering a mid-term deal would cost less but could make the next extension unaffordable. Offering 8 years would require very difficult cap gymnastics, especially considering that every other GM will be aware how desperate Verbeek is, and will try to take advantage.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think owners go into seasons thinking that a team has to reach a specific point to justify the GM keeping his job.\u00a0 If that\u2019s the case, there\u2019s already a lack of confidence and keeping someone you have a lack of confidence in isn\u2019t generally a good idea.\u00a0 If the core youngsters keep progressing and the plan looks like it\u2019s on track, then that should be enough to keep Verbeek in the fold.\u00a0 That could be achieved even with a first-round exit depending on the circumstances.<\/p>\n

As for Cutter Gauthier, it looks like the plan is to try to clear some salary to do a longer-term agreement.\u00a0 Frank Vatrano<\/a> is in play but the acquiring team would be adding $6MM of the $9MM in deferred money on top of the $6MM in actual salary owed over the next two years.\u00a0 That\u2019s going to require a sweetener.\u00a0 Chris Kreider<\/a> and Alex Killorn<\/a> have expiring deals at $6.5MM and $6.25MM respectively, though with more prohibitive 15-team no-trade clauses.\u00a0 If one of them can be moved off the books outright, I think they can get close to a max-term deal done with Gauthier.<\/p>\n

But if they can\u2019t move a veteran, they should be able to (barely) squeeze in a one-year deal.\u00a0 That kicks the problem to next year when he\u2019ll have the ability to sign an offer sheet, giving him a bit more leverage while Anaheim should be able to easier afford a pricier long-term agreement at that time.<\/p>\n

Plan A, I think, is to move a veteran and sign him long-term now.\u00a0 And with Gauthier not being eligible for an offer sheet, they can take their time with this one, something we know GM Pat Verbeek is a fan of.\u00a0 As long as he\u2019s up front with Gauthier\u2019s camp about the logic in waiting (to try to get something done that\u2019s more desirable for both sides), there shouldn\u2019t be any hard feelings.\u00a0 And if they can\u2019t do a long-term contract in the end, then they can pivot to a one-year pact and try again next summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Chicago\u2019s offseason, early winners and losers, Cutter Gauthier\u2019s situation,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[5,4,860,697],"class_list":["post-630968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hockey","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-phr-mailbag","tag-pro-hockey-rumors-originals"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116982621352904066","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}