Quoting: Campabee
Actually Ottawa is 7 Mil over the cap floor already.
Byron is still a good player who a ton of GM's would consider taking for a mid round pick. Fans just don't like that he isn't a flashy 20 goal scorer. Even though he has 2 20 goal seasons in the last 4 years and was on pace for a 3rd in 18-19 but was cut short due to injury. Last season was an anomaly as he was injured more than any other year of his career and never did get up to speed so to speak. Sure he is 31 but even so he was only 2 10ths of a second off McDavid's (13.454) all-star pace for the fastest skater when Montreal held their Skills competition in 18-19 with a time of 13.68. Byrons 2 tenths of a second are even less when you take into account the layout of the 2 tracks. In the NHL All-star skills competition the track is shorter as players only have to go around the bottom of the faceoff circles at each end. The Habs track has players circle each net going behind the goal line at each end. Making the Habs track about 20-30 feet longer end to end. Look for Byron to be his usual 20+ goal scoring self this year. He may even set a new career high seeing as his linemates are likely Kotkaniemi and Tafolli.
The injury had nothing to do with his production last season, and he played better after returning from injury.
Before the knee injury
Byron had 1 goal and 3 assists in 19 games.
After the knee injury
Byron had 3 goals and 3 assists in 10 games
Playoffs
Byron had 1 goal and 3 assists in 10 games
No one said Byron wasn't fast, he just isn't as good as his paycheck says he should be, and he is entering his decline years with three years left on his contract. He isn't the type of player a rebuilding team is targeting.
Stuetzle might still get released from his European contract, then the Galchenyuk signing puts the Sens against the wall with forwards. It doesn't matter what anyone's opinion of Galchenyuk is, he's got a contract, he's coming to camp, and even if he only plays 12 minutes a game, he's dressing. Batherson is playing as well, he's done with the AHL, and so is Brown. Norris might return there for one more year the same way Batherson did last season, maybe. There's just no more room for Byron, or anyone else.