Junior 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 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. On November 22, 2018, only 23 games into the
2018–19 season, scored his seventh goal of the season, surpassing his previous season totals. 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. 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. 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. He was named to the WHL Western Conference Second All-Star Team and finished his junior hockey career with 46 goals and 150 points in 188 regular season games, as well as 33 points in an additional 29 postseason games.
Professional Colorado Avalanche (2021–2024) As he had participated abroad in the
2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, Byram's NHL debut was delayed as he had to clear a seven-day quarantine and produce four negative
COVID-19 tests before joining his teammates in Colorado. He made his NHL debut on January 21, 2021, playing for 11 minutes with one
shot on goal and one
minor penalty in a 4–2 loss to the
Los Angeles Kings. His first NHL point came the following day, an assist on a
Mikko Rantanen goal in the third period of a 2–1 win over the
Anaheim Ducks. At the end of February, however, Byram's rookie season was put on hold when he woke up with concussion symptoms; he did not know what caused the concussion, but he began feeling ill the day after a game against the
Arizona Coyotes. He returned on March 18 and played in four games, missing one with a lower-body injury, before taking a hit from
Keegan Kolesar of the
Vegas Golden Knights on March 25, and he was placed in concussion protocols three days later. While still in concussion protocols, Byram contracted COVID-19, which exacerbated his symptoms, particularly
vertigo, and even after he was medically cleared to play, coach
Jared Bednar chose not to put Byram on the line-up. Bednar was reluctant to allow Byram to take the ice, however, and he did not appear in any part of the Golden Knights' six-game victory over the Avalanche. He appeared in only 19 games as a rookie in the
2020–21 season, with two assists and a +1 rating. during the
2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. Byram scored his first NHL goal in the opening game of the
2021–22 season, scoring on
Marc-André Fleury of the
Chicago Blackhawks en route to a 4–2 win on October 13, 2021. The following month, he sustained his third concussion of the 2021 calendar year after taking an elbow to the head from
Vancouver Canucks captain
Bo Horvat. He returned briefly for two games at the end of November before going back on the injured reserve. Byram only returned in full on January 1, following a league-wide pause due to COVID-19 outbreaks among several NHL teams. Less than two weeks later, Byram, who was still dealing with lingering concussion symptoms, took a personal leave from the Avalanche. On March 31, the Avalanche sent Byram to the
Colorado Eagles, their
American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, for conditioning. To re-acclimate Byram when he returned to the NHL, the Avalanche paired him with several different defencemen in the last 11 games of the regular season. He added five assists in that time, finishing the year with five goals and 17 points in 30 games. Playing beside veteran defenceman
Erik Johnson, Byram was a break-out player for the Avalanche during the
2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, taking on a greater responsibility on defence when
Sam Girard suffered a broken sternum during Colorado's second-round series against the
St. Louis Blues. Byram recorded nine assists in 20 playoff games as the Colorado Avalanche were NHL champions, defeating the
Tampa Bay Lightning in the
2022 Stanley Cup Final. Byram began the
2022–23 NHL season on the second defensive pairing before suffering a lower-body injury during the Avalanche's November trip to New York. At the time of the injury, he had two goals and five points in ten games. The injury was originally deemed week-to-week, but Byram ultimately missed 38 games with what he described as a "finicky" injury. He returned to the line-up on February 8, for Colorado's first game after the 2023
NHL All-Star Game break. Upon his return, Byram took a more active approach on offence, leading to 18 points in his first 28 games back, including a three-game goal streak at the end of March. Playing in 42 regular season games, Byram recorded a career-high 10 goals and 24 points during the 2022–23 season. The Avalanche lost to the
Seattle Kraken in the first round of the
2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, with Byram contributing three assists in seven postseason games. Although his health improved in the
2023–24 NHL season, Byram's play struggled, with his scoring diminished and penalty minutes increasing. A natural left-side defenceman, he struggled with playing on Girard's right. Byram missed eight games in January with a lower-body injury, which he took as an opportunity to "sit back and watch for a bit" and reset his uneven season. Paired at times with Girard,
Cale Makar,
Josh Manson, and
Jack Johnson, Byram recorded eight goals and 20 points in 55 games that season with Colorado.
Buffalo Sabres (2024–present) On March 6, 2024, the Avalanche traded Byram to the
Buffalo Sabres in exchange for centre
Casey Mittelstadt. Sabres general manager
Kevyn Adams had spent considerable time looking for a young, top-rated defenceman, and when Colorado acquired
Sean Walker from the
Philadelphia Flyers, they were willing to move Byram. Byram made his Sabres debut on March 7, recording an assist in their 4–2 loss to the
Nashville Predators. The trade reunited Byram with childhood friends
Dylan Cozens and
Peyton Krebs, and he referred to the new environment as "a breath of fresh air". He became the first Sabres defenceman to record three or more goals in their first three games with the team after he scored a goal against the
Nashville Predators on March 7 and two goals against the
Detroit Red Wings on March 12. In 18 games with the Sabres, Byram recorded three goals and nine points, including a three-game point streak to end the year. During the
2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, Byram became the first Sabres defenceman since
Ken Sutton in 1993 to score a goal in three straight playoff games, doing so in Games 2, 3, and 4 of the Sabres' first round series against the
Boston Bruins. ==International play==