Bowen Byram signed a two-year, $12.5 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres on Monday. It has an average annual value of $6.25 million. The 24-year-old was a restricted free agent and avoided a salary arbitration hearing that had been elected by Buffalo.

Bowen Byram and the Buffalo Sabres made headlines late Monday night by agreeing to a new two-year deal, avoiding salary arbitration. The $6.25M AAV ex

The majority of the high-priced, highly-sought free agents may be gone but there are still several players that NHL teams are eager to get under a deal, either through the open market or via trade.

General manager Kevyn Adams still has work to do. Defenseman Bowen Byram will be going to arbitration if he isn’t traded before then. Alex Tuch is eligible to sign a contract extension. And the team still has more than $13 million in salary-cap space with only Byram and defenseman Conor Timmins unsigned.

NHL insider David Pagnotta shut down rumors linking defenseman Bowen Byram with the Vancouver Canucks. On a Sekeres & Price podcast, Pagnotta said that any future deal between Byram and the Canucks would likely come "out of left field.

The Calgary Flames are weak at left defence, and it’s no secret they’ve been trying to address this issue this offseason. Virtually every left defenceman whose name has hit the market has been linked to the Flames.