LD Bowen Byram - Vancouver Giants, WHL (2019, 4th, COL)

[Gargyn]

based on him being better than the rest of the defensmen in this draft

What he said

 

[cg98]

Arguably best defenseman? I don’t think it’s any question he’s easily the best defenseman in this draft.

Playing as a regular in a mens league as a 17 year old defensemen is no slouch you know. Thats not to take anything away from Byram tho.

 

[Zaddy]

based on him being better than the rest of the defensmen in this draft

Oh ok that explains it. Sorry I'm a bit thick.

 

[maplepred]

looks like he is the top defenseman in a weak defensive draft. Just curious if he is getting overhyped at all due to being the only really good top ten pick worthy defenseman?

Do you feel he stacks up and hasn’t potential of guys like Dobson? Brannstrom? Boqvist? Makar?

Or he is more on the level of guys like clague, Bouchard, fabbro?

Cheers!

 

[tony d]

Could very well be the first dman of the board at the draft. Will be interesting to see where exactly he gets picked in the draft.

 

[Patmac40]

looks like he is the top defenseman in a weak defensive draft. Just curious if he is getting overhyped at all due to being the only really good top ten pick worthy defenseman?

Do you feel he stacks up and hasn’t potential of guys like Dobson? Brannstrom? Boqvist? Makar?

Or he is more on the level of guys like clague, Bouchard, fabbro?

Cheers!

He has as much potential as any dman not named Dahlin over the last few drafts IMO. Reminds me a lot of Rielly at the same age and is more advanced defensively. Likely wouldn't need to be sheltered quite as much when he gets in the league. I'm quite high on him.

 

[Meeqs]

Pretty straight forward, if Byram was in the 2018 draft, where do you feel he would have been taken? How about the 2016?

 

[EXTRAS]

Eighth behind Hughes.

Edit: I was at the vcr/vic game last night and I'll also say that there is no way he is 6"1 192 lbs, which is what it says on elite prospects. Maybe with skates and gear on.

 

[Dodospice]

Hard for me to say because the player I had as the 2nd best defenceman in the draft, was the 5th one to go off the board.

 

[StreetHawk]

Hard for me to say because the player I had as the 2nd best defenceman in the draft, was the 5th one to go off the board.

Plus aside from Hughes he would be the only left shot guy. Next 4 were all right. Which is the harder side to find. With his size and skill set he compares closest to Dobson. So if those teams passed on noah, hard to envision Byrum going higher IMO.

 

[Xirik]

would be the 2nd best defensmen in the 2018 draft

 

[Knies iT]

Eighth behind Hughes.

Edit: I was at the vcr/vic game last night and I'll also say that there is no way he is 6"1 192 lbs, which is what it says on elite prospects. Maybe with skates and gear on.

Byram is better than Hughes. Significantly better in almost all areas.

As for the 2018 draft, I would have the D ranked as:

Dahlin
--------
Byram
Hughes
Boqvist/Bouchard/Dobson

 

[ijuka]

Byram is quite overrated, I think he would not go higher than #4.

 

[tony d]

I think he would go in the Boqvist/Bouchard range.

 

[EXTRAS]

Byram is better than Hughes. Significantly better in almost all areas.

As for the 2018 draft, I would have the D ranked as:

Dahlin
--------
Byram
Hughes
Boqvist/Bouchard/Dobson

He isn't.

 

[93LEAFS]

If I remember correctly, I had it Dahlin, Dobson, Hughes, Boqvist, Bouchard. I'd probably have him after Hughes. Not factoring in what has happened post-draft. Although, I don't think I'd change that today. I believe Dobson has the make-up to be a high-end all around top pairing D-man who can fill any role asked of him (similar to Pietrangelo or Suter if he hits the higher end of his potential), and I have a hard time passing on how dynamic Hughes is, although, I can at least see the argument for Byram based on his all-around game which could make him the more valuable 5v5 and pk player, whereas Hughes may be a Gostisbehere type player who is probably best utilized on a middle-pairing with offensively tilted usage, but is dynamic at QBing a PP.

As for 2016. He's be in the discussion with Juolevi and Sergachev. I probably would have taken Juolevi over him as I liked the all around-ness of his game and his potential to be a minute eating defenseman like I described with Dobson, and I absolutely would have made a mistake.

 

[StreetHawk]

I think he would go in the Boqvist/Bouchard range.

Where you go in the draft is dependent on who is drafting. PLD in 2016 might not have gone #3 if EDM or a few other teams had the 3rd pick.

So, if we are dropping Byrum into the 2018 draft, then we're looking at Van, Chi, Edm, NYI who all took Dmen. Rangers passed on Dobson to take a Forward.

For Vancouver, he's a local kid, good size. Basically, he's a BC Born version of Dobson IMO. If they passed on Dobson for Hughes, then really, where Byrum is born should not factor into the decision of who to take.

Same applies to Chicago, who took the slick offensive Dman Boqvist over the 2 bigger CAD Dmen.

Edmonton would be interesting. They do covet the RHD, so that could be a factor. Opted for Bouchard over Dobson. Hard for me to say that they would take Byrum over Bouchard.

So, he likely ends up around where Dobson was, having the Isles make a choice.

And drafting isn't just about how well you are performing now, it's how they project you to perform down the line. So, I don't think Byrum cracks the top 10 in 2018 based on how that draft unfolded for Dmen. He's not in the Dahlin class. And each of the teams afterwards who took a Dman had to make choices of the type of guy they wanted.

 

[93LEAFS]

Where you go in the draft is dependent on who is drafting. PLD in 2016 might not have gone #3 if EDM or a few other teams had the 3rd pick.

So, if we are dropping Byrum into the 2018 draft, then we're looking at Van, Chi, Edm, NYI who all took Dmen. Rangers passed on Dobson to take a Forward.

For Vancouver, he's a local kid, good size. Basically, he's a BC Born version of Dobson IMO. If they passed on Dobson for Hughes, then really, where Byrum is born should not factor into the decision of who to take.

Same applies to Chicago, who took the slick offensive Dman Boqvist over the 2 bigger CAD Dmen.

Edmonton would be interesting. They do covet the RHD, so that could be a factor. Opted for Bouchard over Dobson. Hard for me to say that they would take Byrum over Bouchard.

So, he likely ends up around where Dobson was, having the Isles make a choice.

Yeah, you can only really peg how you would have ranked him relative to how you had others ranked.

If you had the knowledge of every teams draft list, and randomized the list and did 5 different drafts, you would see crazy variations and results. Out of personal interest, I've taken the bigger name public scouting service and writers and randomized their lists and did the draft, it's crazy how things play out, and how one small change in order can have dramatic effects.

 

[StreetHawk]

Yeah, you can only really peg how you would have ranked him relative to how you had others ranked.

If you had the knowledge of every teams draft list, and randomized the list and did 5 different drafts, you would see crazy variations and results. Out of personal interest, I've taken the bigger name public scouting service and writers and randomized their lists and did the draft, it's crazy how things play out, and how one small change in order can have dramatic effects.

The basis for my post is that I view Byrum as very similar to Dobson. Build and skill set seem close. So, if those teams passed on Dobson, I'm thinking that they also pass on Byrum. Vancouver would have the hardest decision, but hopefully they learned that where a player is born should not matter like in 2014. Don't take Virtanen because he's local. Take him because you truly view him as being a legit NHL power forward. Don't overlook hockey IQ over where they are born.

 

[Frk It]

The basis for my post is that I view Byrum as very similar to Dobson. Build and skill set seem close. So, if those teams passed on Dobson, I'm thinking that they also pass on Byrum. Vancouver would have the hardest decision, but hopefully they learned that where a player is born should not matter like in 2014. Don't take Virtanen because he's local. Take him because you truly view him as being a legit NHL power forward. Don't overlook hockey IQ over where they are born.

Dobson was more raw... also a decent amount taller and a better skater.

 

[Legend123]

4OA or 5OA at the very least.
Second best D

 

[EXTRAS]

I'd say he has great positioning and is near mistake free. Really good spacial awareness.

He isn't physical at all, to the point that even whl players can push him off the puck, but he doesn't put himself in the position that he needs to battle often, because he is very smart.

He lacks intensity. If there is a chase for the puck because a guy hasn't gotten behind him and his partner, he will let his d partner do the work. This bothers me. It's like he doesn't want to hustle.

and when he carries the puck he looks as though he's skating half speed, but thinking while he is skating. Intelligence makes him dangerous rather than his other tools, picking the holes, and making easy plays that become dangerous.

The fastest I've seen him skate is in a shootout, funny enough.

He definitely isn't ready to play nhl hockey next year as a dman. I'd say he should get a year in the AHL just for the physical training alone. It's unfortunate the CHL doesn't allow him to play there. I hope he grows a couple inches cuz while his bio on elite prospects says he is 6'1 I will definitely contest that. Hes smaller imo. Although he always has a bend in his knees.

I'd say if he can get strong enough to deal with big nhl forwards he will be a good two way guy.

I'd put him below hughes just because hughes is a ton more dynamic. Hughes can run a game, whereas you barely notice byram (he isn't making mistakes) and then makes one very good intelligent play and gets an assist.

 

[Dominance]

I'd say he has great positioning and is near mistake free. Really good spacial awareness.

He isn't physical at all, to the point that even whl players can push him off the puck, but he doesn't put himself in the position that he needs to battle often, because he is very smart.

He lacks intensity. If there is a chase for the puck because a guy hasn't gotten behind him and his partner, he will let his d partner do the work. This bothers me. It's like he doesn't want to hustle.

and when he carries the puck he looks as though he's skating half speed, but thinking while he is skating. Intelligence makes him dangerous rather than his other tools, picking the holes, and making easy plays that become dangerous.

The fastest I've seen him skate is in a shootout, funny enough.

He definitely isn't ready to play nhl hockey next year as a dman. I'd say he should get a year in the AHL just for the physical training alone. It's unfortunate the CHL doesn't allow him to play there. I hope he grows a couple inches cuz while his bio on elite prospects says he is 6'1 I will definitely contest that. Hes smaller imo. Although he always has a bend in his knees.

I'd say if he can get strong enough to deal with big nhl forwards he will be a good two way guy.

I'd put him below hughes just because hughes is a ton more dynamic. Hughes can run a game, whereas you barely notice byram (he isn't making mistakes) and then makes one very good intelligent play and gets an assist.

He lacks physicality and intensity? We definitely haven’t watched the same games!

 

[EXTRAS]

He lacks physicality and intensity? We definitely haven’t watched the same games!

When I've watched him he doesn't throw hits, and doesn't get hit. And almost looks uninterested at times. And honestly he doesn't look like that will ever be apart of his game, to me. Guys literally punch him in the head after the whistle and he just immediately skates away, which I'd also call quite smart. Much more of a cerebral player.

 

[Morgs]

I had it:
Smith
Hughes
Boqvist
Dobson
Bouchard

I'd put him after Boqvist and before Dobson.