Sabres swing twice in Round 1, turning a defenseman into two top-20 picks at the NHL Draft

The Buffalo Sabres entered the 2026 NHL Draft with a plan centered on the first round, but the result is more aggressive than most expected. On Friday, Buffalo will pick twice within the top 20, holding the No. 4 overall selection and the No. 20 overall selection, a positioning jump driven by moves the club made before the opening selections begin.

The biggest shift came when Buffalo general manager Jarmo Kekalainen flipped defenseman Bowen Byram. According to the report, Buffalo traded Byram to Chicago and, in return, received the fourth overall pick in 2026, a 2026 second-round pick, and defenseman Louis Crevier. The transaction effectively converts one high-end defensive asset into multiple draft resources while adding a prospect defender back into the system.

Buffalo’s second top-20 slot did not arrive quietly. The report also credits another blueline-related trade involving Michael Kesselring for enabling Buffalo to move up seven positions, landing the No. 20 overall pick. In practical terms, that means Buffalo is not simply drafting, it is reallocating assets to concentrate selection value in the most influential part of the draft.

The Sabres’ draft-day posture highlights a broader team-building approach: accelerating the timeline for the organization’s next core by stacking early picks and targeted prospect acquisition. In the NHL, the top 20 of a draft is where teams most often bet on players who can transition faster from junior or European development paths into meaningful NHL roles.

By giving up Byram, Buffalo is making a clear bet that the fourth overall pick plus an additional second-round selection, along with adding Crevier, will produce more long-term roster flexibility than retaining Byram alone. The trade’s impact will be measured over time, because development paths for prospects are rarely linear, but Buffalo is clearly placing substantial weight on its first-round haul.

There is also a positional logic behind the overall picture. By sourcing draft capital while adding another defenseman through the Byram-to-Chicago return, Buffalo is indicating continued emphasis on its blue line pipeline, rather than treating the draft as a one-position need exercise.

What to watch next is how Buffalo structures the rest of its draft board after this reshaping of the first round. With two top-20 picks on deck and another second-round asset referenced in the package, the organization’s decisions after the opening selections will determine whether the Sabres treat the day as a “best available” strategy or as a tighter plan to build around a specific style and prospect profile.

The exact draft implications of these deals will also depend on how the Blackhawks’ and Sabres’ internal evaluations play out for each returned piece. For Buffalo, the immediate question is whether the added early-pick leverage translates into impact players quickly enough to change the team’s outlook sooner rather than later. For Chicago, the Byram side of the swap will similarly be judged by how quickly he fits into their defensive identity.