Sabres’ Byram, Mammoth’s McBain headed for team-elected salary arbitration
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While most of the NHL’s free agency commotion is behind us, some players are still ironing out the logistics of their contracts.
The Buffalo Sabres have elected for salary arbitration with defenceman Bowen Byram, as have the Utah Mammoth with forward Jack McBain, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
Teams had until 5 p.m. ET on Sunday to make a decision on arbitration-eligible players, and the deadline for a player-initiated hearing was Saturday, with 11 players opting for an outside perspective.
Since the team took the player to arbitration, the player will choose the term of the award and cannot sign an offer sheet, Friedman noted in a post on X.
The hearings will be held from July 20 to Aug. 4., but teams are permitted to continue negotiations before an official proceeding, per CapFriendly. The NHL is one of only two major North American sports leagues to deploy an arbitration system, alongside the MLB.
Byram, 24, was the Colorado Avalanche’s fourth-overall pick in 2019 and has posted 110 points (33 goals, 77 assists) from the blueline in 246 career games. He was acquired by the Sabres in March of 2024 for forward Casey Mittelstadt.
The 25-year-old McBain was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the third round of the 2018 draft, but was shipped to Arizona for a second-round pick in March of 2022. He’s collected 82 points (35 goals, 47 assists) in 241 career games.
Here is a full list of the 13 players bound for salary arbitration.
Player elected:
Morgan Barron (Winnipeg Jets)
Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks)
Drew Helleson (Anaheim Ducks)
Kaapo Kakko (Seattle Kraken)
Nicholas Robertson (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Dylan Samberg (Winnipeg Jets)
Arvid Soderblom (Chicago Blackhawks)
Jayden Struble (Montreal Canadiens)
Conor Timmins (Buffalo Sabres)
Maksim Tsyplakov (New York Islanders)
Gabriel Vilardi (Winnipeg Jets)
Team elected:
Jack McBain (Utah Mammoth)
Bowen Byram (Buffalo Sabres)
