Why Rangers should investigate possible Sabres trade: ‘there’s definitely noise around [Bowen] Byram’
With rumors swirling again that Bowen Byram could be traded this summer, the New York Rangers owe it to themselves to at least find out what it might cost to land the 23-year-old defenseman from the Buffalo Sabres.
The rumor mill first began to churn around Byram prior to the NHL Trade Deadline in March. His name is out there again, with League insider Elliotte Friedman the latest to discuss Byram’s future on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast.
“There is no doubt [Byram’s] name is out there, and there’s just been an agent change. So, that always leads to conversation about what does this mean? There is no doubt his name is out there. There’s no doubt they’re gauging market value on him, and we will see where this takes us,” Friedman explained Wednesday. “But there is definitely noise around the Byram name and the Buffalo Sabres.”
Byram is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. He’s due a sizable raise on his current $3.85 million AAV. Since the Sabres already invested $23.6 million annually through 2030 in three young defensemen — Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson — they may not have the stomach to pony up more big bucks on another d-man, no matter how talented. Especially since each of the four are left-hand shots, though Byram and Samuelsson can play on the right side, too.
Byram logged the second most TOI for the Sabres this season, 22:42 playing all 82 games. Only Dahlin, the Sabres captain, averaged more (24:14 TOI). Byram’s career-high 38 points were third among Sabres defensemen behind Dahlin (68) and Power (40); and his 35 even-strength points were sixth most among all Sabres skaters.
The No. 4 pick in the 2019 draft by the Colorado Avalanche, Byram played more than 1,500 minutes 5v5 this season, most on the Sabres. He was on ice for a team-high 80 goals 5v5 and 66 against. The Sabres had an expected goals share of 47.88 percent 5v5 with Byram out there, per Natural Stat Trick, on par with Power (48.05 percent) but not nearly as good as Dahlin (54.59 percent).
The rub for Byram is that he’s stuck behind Dahlin and Power on the power play, logging far fewer minutes there than the other two. Since he was previously behind Cale Makar in Colorado, before being traded to Buffalo ahead of the 2024 deadline, Byram doesn’t wish to be behind Dahlin and Power long term.
That helps explain why his name is out there in trade rumors, even if the Sabres still have two years before he can be an unrestricted free agent in 2027.
“I think he would like a bigger role, and it’s tough in Buffalo with who’s ahead of him and who’s around him. I think that absolutely is part of the decision-making process,” Friedman said.
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Why Bowen Byram could be a fit with Rangers
So, where does this leave the Rangers? As stated at the top, general manager Chris Drury needs to, at minimum, place a call to his Sabres counterpart Kevyn Adams to see what it would take to land Byram. The Sabres likely would seek a young forward to play in their top-six. Draft picks aren’t of interest to the Sabres, who are hungry to start winning after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs an NHL-record 14 consecutive seasons.
“The goal next season is to compete for the playoffs, so any move that they make is going to have that in mind,” Dave Pagnotta reported in The Fourth Period.
Adams would and should ask for Alexis Lafreniere in return. One talented 23-year-old with serious upside in exchange for another. That Lafreniere has cost certainty, locked in at $7.45 million per year for the next seven seasons, only adds to his value.
The Rangers likely would balk at that one-for-one trade. But what if it expanded to include J.J. Peterka from the Buffalo side and one of Brennan Othmann, Gabe Perreault or Brett Berard from New York’s side? Just considering options here.
If the Sabres are high on Perreault or Othmann, perhaps one of those players along with a secondary piece could land Byram. Again, just spitballing.
Of course, the second part of this equation is that the Rangers likely would move on from their own restricted free agent K’Andre Miller, who’s also a pending RFA with arbitration rights this summer. He’s two years older at 25, but might be more of a defensive fit alongside Adam Fox moving forward on the top pair in New York. Then again, Byram and Fox could be a scary good offensive pairing 5v5, and a solid 1-2 on the power play, whether paired together or manning separate units.
There’s also a world where Byram slots in on the second pair with Will Borgen, and the Rangers go with a defensive-minded d-man, in the Ryan Lindgren mold, to pair with Fox.
The most difficult needle to thread would be if the Rangers acquired Byram and kept Miller. That’d be a bold move to solidify the top-four for years to come, but would necessitate moving out some contracts to fit everyone under the salary cap this season. It’d be less difficult beginning in 2026-27 when the salary cap takes another significant leap and the Rangers have serious money coming off the books.
For now, this is all conjecture. But if the Rangers are interested in the player, they need to seriously look into Byram’s availability this summer.
