Bowen Byram

Bowen Byram (born June 13, 2001) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Byram was born on June 13, 2001, in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada, to Stacey and Shawn Byram.

His father was a professional ice hockey player who followed his brief stint in the National Hockey League (NHL) with 11 seasons in minor and European leagues.

Shawn Byram served as his son's hockey coach until Byram was 12, at which point he joined the Lethbridge Golden Hawks of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League (AMBHL).

Michael Dyck, the Lethbridge coach, first noticed Byram during a minor ice hockey game when he was 10 years old.

He spent two seasons with Lethbridge, and during the 2015–16 AMBHL season, Byram was the top-scoring defenceman in the league, with 22 goals and 37 assists in 34 games.

The Golden Hawks won the AMBHL championships and finished in third place at the Western Canadian Bantam AAA Championship.

After two seasons with them, the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League (WHL) selected Byram third overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft.

Following his successful stint in the AMBHL, Byram was selected third overall by the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League (WHL) at the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, and he signed with the team shortly afterwards.

As he still had a year of minor midget hockey availability, he was only eligible to appear in five WHL games during the 2016–17 season, but he ultimately appeared in 11 junior ice hockey games that season, splitting time between Vancouver, Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Alberta Midget Hockey League (AMHL).

With Yale, Byram recorded 29 points in 20 regular season games, as well as four points in three postseason appearances.

Playing with the team from 2017 to 2020, Byram earned a number of junior ice hockey awards, including the CHL Top Draft Prospect Award and the Western Conference Rookie of the Year title.

Playing his first full season with the Giants in 2017–18, Byram scored his first WHL goal on October 21, 2017, as part of a 5–2 victory over the Regina Pats.

By February, Byram was registering almost 23 minutes of ice time per game, and was considered not only a top prospect for the National Hockey League (NHL) but a future captain for the Giants.

That month, he recorded three goals and six assists in a span of 12 games and was subsequently named the WHL Rookie of the Month.

With six goals and 27 points in 60 regular season games, Byram outscored former Giants star Jonathon Blum, considered one of the top players on the team, who only recorded 24 points during his 16-year-old season.

Although the Giants lost their opening-round playoff series to the Victoria Royals, Byram added three postseason goals and four assists to his season totals.

At the end of the year, Byram was named the WHL Western Conference Rookie of the Year, and he was the runner-up to Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy.

He also represented Canada at a number of international under-18 and junior tournaments, including gold medal finishes at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

After finishing in second place at the 2021 World Junior Championships, Byram joined the Avalanche for the 2020–21 NHL season.

His rookie year was marred by two concussions and a COVID-19 diagnosis, the latter of which exacerbated his concussion symptoms.

After playing in only 19 regular season games, Byram was able to join the team for the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, but did not play.

He scored his first NHL goal on the opening day of the 2021–22 season, but was concussed again shortly thereafter.

Byram won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022.

On November 22, 2018, only 23 games into the 2018–19 season, scored his seventh goal of the season, surpassing his previous season totals.

He was selected fourth overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

The son of NHL player Shawn Byram, Byram was coached by his father until the age of 12, at which point he began playing full time with the Lethbridge Golden Hawks of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.

With nine goals and 25 points halfway through the season, Byram was selected to represent the Giants at the 2019 Sherwin-Williams Top Prospects Game.

After a five-point game against the Kamloops Blazers on January 13, 2019, Byram, who set a franchise record for most single-game points by a defenceman, was named the WHL On the Run Player of the Week.

That March, Byram scored his sixth overtime goal of the season to help defeat the Tri-City Americans 4–3, setting a WHL record for most overtime goals in one year in the process.

With 26 goals and 45 assists in 67 regular season games, Byram set a Giants record for the most goals by any defenceman in a season and helped the team clinch the No. 1 seed in the WHL Western Conference playoffs.

Although Vancouver lost to the Prince Albert Raiders in the final playoff round, Byram led all WHL skaters with 26 points (eight goals and 18 assists) in 22 postseason games, and he was the first Vancouver Giant to ever receive the CHL Top Draft Prospect Award.

He was also named to the WHL Western Conference First All-Star Team.

His performance with Vancouver that season led the NHL Central Scouting Bureau to rank Byram the second-best North American skater available in the upcoming 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

Byram was the first defenceman taken in that year's draft, selected fourth overall by the Colorado Avalanche.

He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the team on July 19, 2019.

Byram was invited to join the Avalanche for their 2019 training camp, but was returned to the Giants for the 2019–20 season.

He had a slow start with Vancouver that season, netting only three goals in 27 games before leaving the team to join Canada at the 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in December.

His return from the World Juniors was followed by a surge in scoring, with seven goals and 17 assists through 12 games in the month of February, and Byram was named the WHL Player of the Month.

By the time that the WHL season was prematurely suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Byram had 14 goals, 52 points, and a +19 plus–minus through 50 games.