Professional
After his junior season ended with the Prince Albert Raiders, the New York Rangers assigned Byers to the Hartford Wolf Pack to finish the 2005-06 season. Byers had two assists in five games with Hartford. He spent the entire 2006-07 season with the Wolf Pack, where Byers had 17 goals and 47 points, along with 213 penalty minutes in 78 games. In seven playoff games, Byers scored two goals. Byers returned to Hartford for the 2007-08 season, where he had 23 goals and 46 points in 73 games. In five playoff games, Byers had a goal and three points. He also made his NHL debut during the 2007-08 NHL season, going pointless in one game with the New York Rangers.
Byers missed most of the 2008–09 season due to a knee injury suffered during a game against the Worcester Sharks on October 31, 2008. In nine games, Byers had four goals and seven points, and he returned for the playoffs for Hartford, where Byers had three goals and four points in six games. Byers rebounded from his injury shortened season in 2009–10, as he had 25 goals and 52 points in 74 games with the Wolf Pack. Byers also appeared in five games with the Rangers, scoring his first NHL goal against Niklas Bäckström of the Minnesota Wild on October 30, 2009. [2] Several days later, Byers was given an automatic one-game suspension by the NHL for instigating a fight with forward Tanner Glass in the final five minutes of a 4–1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on November 3. [3]
Byers began the 2010–11 season with Hartford, where in 16 games he had three goals and nine points. On November 11, 2010, the Rangers traded Byers to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Chad Kolarik.
The Blue Jackets assigned Byers to the AHL's Springfield Falcons, where he had nine goals and 25 points in 48 games. Byers was once again on the move, as on February 28, 2011, Byers and Rostislav Klesla were traded from the Blue Jackets to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Scottie Upshall and Sami Lepistö. As a result of the mid-season trades, Byers was able to set an AHL record for most games played in a season, with 85. [4] But, on July 11, 2011, he was signed to go back to the Jackets. On January 16, 2012, Byers was given a three-game suspension by the NHL for an illegal check to the head of Andrew Desjardins during a game against the San Jose Sharks on January 14, 2012. [5]
On July 5, 2012, the Edmonton Oilers signed Byers to a one-year, two-way contract. [6] He was assigned to the Oilers' AHL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons, to begin the 2012–13 season. On April 2, 2013, he was traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Garrett Stafford. [7]
On June 26, 2013, despite no contract extension with Washington, Byers signed a one-year contract to remain with the Capitals' AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. [8]
After two seasons as captain of the Bears, Byers left North America and signed a try-out contract with Finnish Liiga club Ilves on September 22, 2015. In his first stint overseas, Byers recorded two goals in six games with Ilves before signing with rivals Lahti Pelicans for the remainder of the season on October 12, 2015. [9]
On May 23, 2016, Byers signed with Kölner Haie of the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). [10]
On 1 June 2017, Byers moved to the United Kingdom to sign for Elite Ice Hockey League club Manchester Storm. [11]
Byers played for two years in Manchester, the second as captain, before retiring in April 2019. [12]
