Paul Byron Set to Retire From The NHL

According to Montreal Canadiens General Manager Ken Hughes, Paul Byron is expected to announce his retirement from the NHL after 13 seasons in which he spent time with the Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, and Montreal Canadiens as he put up 98 goals and 110 assists for 208 points in 521 career games. The 34-year-old winger had only played in 27 games since the 2021-22 season due to lingering issues from his hip surgery which has now forced him to early retirement. Byron was a sixth-round pick of the Sabres back in the 2007 NHL Draft, but during his time in the Sabres organization, he only saw eight games with the big club, where he put up a goal and an assist before being traded to Calgary in June 2011. He would see more time at the NHL level with the Flames, but things never worked out for him there as in four years with the Flames, he saw action in 130 games where he put up 15 goals and 30 assists before being placed on waivers

Byron was one of the best waiver pickups for the Canadiens as they claimed him off waivers from the Flames just prior to the start of the 2015-16 season. In his first season with the Habs, Byron put up 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points in 62 games but would break out the following season. The 2016-17 season was a career year for the Ottawa native as he put up 22 goals and 21 assists for 43 points in 81 games and followed it up the next season with another 20-goal season.

What’s Next For Paul Byron

During his two years as GM of the Canadiens, Kent Hughes has done a good job at finding roles for former players who want to stay in the organization, as there have been talks about Carey Price joining the team in a front-office role, and Hughes mentioned that he will be sitting down with Byron in December to discuss Byron’s future with the organization. There’s no question that if Byron is interested in a role with the team, the organization will do everything in its power to help him get one.