The exact defenseman the Maple Leafs have been crying out for is reportedly available

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram could be the key missing piece in the Maple Leafs defense corps and might be available according to Darren Dreger.

According to Darren Dreger, the Buffalo Sabres have been entertaining offers on former fourth overall pick Bowen Byram:

Multiple teams are exploring a trade with the Buffalo Sabres involving defenseman, Bowen Byram. Byram has one year left on his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent. Agent Darren Ferris has some history with marching players to the open market. Motivation for trade consideration.

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He's a player who could give several teams and offensive jump on the blueline and with the Toronto Maple Leafs needing exactly that, they should be at the front of the line.

The former No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft has not turned into the superstar defenceman he was once projected to be. Still, he has been incredibly productive in Buffalo and has developed his game tremendously.

With that said, he has one more year until he hits free agency and is making $6.25 million AAV; however, he is young at 25 years old, he is someone who is a highly movable piece for the Sabres and could be a really strong extension candidate with the Leafs having a ton of cap space if they trade for him.

Multiple teams are exploring a Bowen Byram trade with one year left before free agency

So, the Buffalo Sabres are in an interesting spot; they just did a trade where they shipped off one of their defencemen, Michael Kesselring and the number 27 pick in the upcoming draft to move up seven spots in the draft.

However, they don't have a lot of cap space, and if Bowen Byram is looking to bag chase, it is better to ship him off now and get some assets back in return than let him walk for free.

It makes a ton of sense why multiple teams would be on a player like Bowen Byram; he is not a small-bodied player at 6'1 and 205 pounds, but is also incredibly mobile with above-average two-way play while leaning more into an offensive defenseman type of role.

Defensemen also typically take longer to develop, and Byram might not have reached his ceiling yet. If given more opportunity to be on the PP1, you could see his point totals soar.

Last season was the best of his career, and his trade value will definitely spark interest due to age, skill, and the fact that he isn't locked up long-term, so his value won't be as high.

The former fourth overall pick is still young, talented, has scored over double-digit goals three times in his career and still has the opportunity to reach the pre-draft hype he was given.

Teams will be in the mix for his services, and the price is certainly not low. There is a good, young player here who was on the team that finished first in the Eastern Conference last year.

A young puck-mover is exactly the profile Matthews and Nylander asked Toronto to add

The Maple Leafs most recently acquired a solid puck-moving defenseman in the Joseph Woll trade by acquiring Swedish defenseman Emil Andrae. That said, there still is room to add more.

The Maple Leafs have a lot of talent and a lot of speed, despite former GM Brad Treliving's best efforts to acquire slower and heavier bruisers.

There is plenty of room to add, and Bowen Byram might be someone who could fit on Toronto's blue line, especially with rumours of moving on from long-time Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly via trade.

But the reality is, the Maple Leafs' defence was awful last year, now they did deal with some injuries, and a terrible defensive system, but adding a player like Byram continues to help them substantially.

Matthews and Nylander are highly skilled hockey players with tremendous speed, complemented by guys like Easton Cowan, Matthew Knies, and likely Gavin McKenna. Having a defenseman who can get the puck to those playmakers in space is going to be crucial.

Modern NHL systems have transitioned much more from shutdown defenseman, though they definitely still have a place, to much more puck-movement based, and getting the puck out of your own end in transition.

Byram adds another weapon that can be crucial for the re-tool, having a left-shot defenseman who is incredibly mobile, while providing reliable back-end defence, allows Toronto to get back on offence much more easily.

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