Darren Dreger reported this morning that multiple teams have been exploring a trade with the Buffalo Sabres, that would involve defenseman Bowen Byram. The 25-year-old left-shot defenseman is coming off a solid playoff where he posted 4G-3A-7P in 13 games played. He has one year remaining on his current contract and will be looking for a new deal wherever he would end up.
Byram was a member of the 2021-2022 Colorado Avalanche, who eventually lifted the Stanley Cup, where we played in 20 games during the Cup run and posted nine points. Through his first seven seasons in the NHL, he has already amassed 40 playoff games, at only 25 years old, that is a heck of a lot of experience.
Through his career, he has always played second fiddle to a world-class defenseman, in Colorado he played behind the all-world Cale Makar, and in Buffalo he played on the second pair behind Rasmus Dahlin, who just finished third in Norris Trophy voting. Byram is a former fourth overall pick and has shown his offensive upside even without playing on the top pair, he is certainly looking for that opportunity to put his full repertoire on display. He played in all 82 games this season where he scored 11 goals and added 31 assists.
An opportunity for Boston to get younger and more skilled
Intra-division trades may not happen often in the NHL; however, if Byram is on the market, the Bruins should most certainly kick the tires on what it would take to get him in Boston. As mentioned, he is 25 years old and a former fourth overall pick. If the Bruins were to have been in good fortune and had Toronto’s first-round pick this year, they would have taken a defenseman in the top-10. This would be a way to get a proven NHL defenseman and a Stanley Cup Champion on your roster who would raise the floor of the offensive upside on defense and get a left shot to run the power play.
This Bruins core is only getting older and entering their thirties, some even already there. If the front office wants to continue to push to compete in the loaded Eastern Conference while also getting younger, this could be a prime opportunity to do so.
Buffalo is a team that is new to the playoff scene and more than likely wants to catapult that success into the coming years. Meaning, a deal may get done with roster players rather than picks and prospects. Don Sweeney and co. have already got turnover this off-season, and moving Andre Gasseau to the San Jose Sharks, hopefully, this is a sign of moving and shaking this off-season to try and add some difference makers to this Bruins lineup.
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