BUFFALO – You bet Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram heard his name repeatedly materialize in trade rumors during the offseason.

“I feel like I’ve been in trade rumors since I first came into the league,” Byram said Monday morning in KeyBank Center. “It’s not anything new for me. I definitely see them and whatever. But at the end of that day, I have a job to do in the summer, which is prepare for the upcoming season, and that’s what I tried to do all summer.”

On July 14, Byram signed a two-year, $12.5 million contract as a restricted free agent, ending speculation the Sabres could deal him to pry away a top-six forward from another team.

Throughout the spring into early summer, it felt like Byram’s days in Buffalo could be numbered.

In trading winger JJ Peterka, the Sabres created a hole up front. It appeared they might try to infuse more scoring in their lineup.

Byram, 24, was perhaps their biggest trade chip.

General manager Kevyn Adams said early in the offseason if a deal made sense, he would do one. Still, he did not want to lose Byram.

“When I kept telling you over and over again that my intention is to keep Bo Byram on our team, I was being honest,” Adams said Wednesday. “I think he’s a really good hockey player. I did not want to trade him.”

Following last season, Byram, who arrived before the 2024 trade deadline from the Colorado Avalanche, said he wanted to stay put.

He has enjoyed more opportunities with the Sabres. Last season, he averaged a career-high 22 minutes, 42 seconds of ice time and also set personal bests by registering 31 assists, 38 points and a plus-11 rating in 82 games.

“We have a good group of guys that I found it easy to jell with and get to know,” said Byram, who played in Monday’s preseason opener in Columbus against the Blue Jackets “… At the end of the day, I’m still trying to prove myself what I can do, so I feel like last year I gained some trust for the coaching staff.”

In the winter, when Sabres coach Lindy Ruff put him alongside captain Rasmus Dahlin, Byram had perhaps his best stretch all season. Right now, it appears they could be paired together again to start the campaign.

When Ruff separated the duo last season, he said Byram tried to do too much.

“I think when he was with Ras, I think he was basically back most of the time,” Ruff said. “When he wasn’t with Ras, he was trying to be that guy that could get up ice, try to create offense, hang onto pucks more, and I think that got into more difficult situations on the ice that he needed to get into.”

Adams said Byram’s short deal “gives him more time here to see how things are shaking out.”

“Hopefully he’s here a long time,” he said.

On Monday, Ruff put Byram alongside rookie Radim Mrtka, the ninth overall pick this year, for his preseason debut.

Monday’s lineup featured a mix of veterans and youngsters. The Sabres host Columbus tonight.

“We’re trying to balance the squad for these next two games,” Ruff said. “So you look at it, we’ve tried to get an equal number of vets in both groups and young guys. So I wouldn’t overthink where (Byram’s) at.”

– Expect 6-foot-4, 231-pound newcomer Mason Geertsen, 30, to rack up some fighting majors this season.

When Geertsen played 25 games for Ruff’s New Jersey Devils in 2021-22, his only NHL action, he fought five times and compiled 77 penalty minutes.

Having signed a two-year, two-way contract as a free agent, it appeared he might be ticketed for the Rochester Americans this season.

But Geertsen, a natural defenseman, has been skating as a winger in the Sabres’ main practice throughout training camp.

“He’s an enforcer, but he’s a well-conditioned athlete, too,” Ruff said.

Ruff said during the opening session Thursday, he outskated defenseman Jacob Bryson.

“When I talked to him this summer, I just said, ‘I need you to get in incredibly good shape if we’re going to use you, like where you can skate, you can play,’” Ruff said of Geertsen. “He said, ‘I promise you I’ll be in the best possible shape I can get into.’ And he has.”

– Sabres goalie Alexandar Georgiev started Monday’s game and was scheduled to play 40 minutes before Devon Levi replaced him for the third period. Ruff said Levi will also relieve tonight’s starter, likely Alex Lyon, for the final 20 minutes.

The Sabres signed Georgiev, 29, earlier this month after goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen tweaked a lower-body injury.

While the Bulgarian is an established talent – he has twice led the NHL in wins – he’s fighting to make the team after a down season.

“He’s just got to use his platform,” Ruff said. “I think it’s an opportunity for him to say, ‘I can be a goaltender that can really help you guys out.’ So every opportunity that he gets is a statement that he’s going to make to us.”

– Sabres winger Alex Tuch, who missed the first two days of camp with an undisclosed injury, started practicing again Saturday.