The Philadelphia Flyers already tried to trade for star Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram once, and the latest NHL trade rumors indicate they'll try once more.
Before they traded Cutter Gauthier to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick, the Flyers, as reported by NHL insider Elliotte Friedman in Jan. 2024, tried to move Gauthier to the Colorado Avalanche for Bowen Byram.
“I think Philly did ask about Bowen Byram, and I just think Colorado wasn’t going there,” Friedman said on the Jan. 12, 2024 episode of the "32 Thoughts" podcast. “I suspect Colorado’s answer was ‘We are not doing this 1-for-1, it’s got to be more than Gauthier for Byram.’”
Fast forward to today, and Byram, 23, is a pending restricted free agent on a Buffalo team with a number of players rumored to be dissatisfied with the team's lack of success and direction, which is no surprise having won a Stanley Cup with Colorado already.
Byram has recently changed agents and purportedly wants more power play time, which he won't get as long as Rasmus Dahlin is on the Sabres. The Flyers, on the other hand, do not have a dedicated power play quarterback for either of the two units that were no better than 30th in each of the last three years.
Byram is a good offensive defenseman playing on a bad Sabres team. (Evolving-Hockey)
Friedman has again found a pulse on Byram's latest situation, reporting on his Thursday episode of "32 Thoughts" that Byram's name was a hot one at this week's NHL Scouting Combine, with Sabres GM Kevyn Adams putting in the leg work whilst searching for ways to bolster his languishing roster.
"That's just a hot name. It's just a hot name. Kevyn Adams, he's doing his due diligence there. I think there's a lot of interest, as you would expect," Friedman said of Byram. "We've said it's going to be a hot name this summer. I've just heard there's been a lot of noise around him at the combine."
The Flyers, like the Sabres and Byram, are having a bit of trouble with an RFA defenseman of their own in Cam York, who is one of two Flyers free agents still without a new contract.
Fellow RFAs Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster seemingly put pen to paper on new deals with ease in recent weeks.
If role and playing time is an issue for Byram but not for York, it's reasonable to assume that the Flyers and the Sabres are in positions to help each other out without sacrificing much else at either end.
York, who has established himself as a reliable defensive safety valve at the expense of his own offensive talents, could perform well in a similar role next to either Dahlin or Owen Power.
The Sabres are, additionally, in need of right-shot defensemen, as Dahlin, Power, Mattias Samuelsson, and York or Byram are all left-shots.
Perhaps a reunion with Rasmus Ristolainen, now an established veteran whose game has improved dramatically, would make sense on some level, just not as a direct swap for Byram.
The Flyers have plenty of talented options available on the NHL trade market this year, but what ultimately comes of it is up to them to decide. A Stanley Cup-contending roster won't make itself.
