A loaded top-four group of defensemen could push young defender Bowen Byram out as the trade deadline looms closer.
A loaded top-four group of defensemen could push young defender Bowen Byram out as the trade deadline looms closer.
It is no secret that the Colorado Avalanche requires some help down the middle if they are to contend for another Stanley Cup. With Elias Lindholm, one of the top options at this year's trade deadline now off the board and with the Vancouver Canucks, the Avalanche will need to get creative with their trade offers.
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They can pull from an area of strength to fill an area they desperately need to replenish. Like it or not, the answer comes from one of their younger players, Bowen Byram.
The 22-year-old, Byram currently holds a $3.85 million cap hit through the end of the 2024-25 season and has been limited to third pairing and second power play deployment for most of this season. The idea of moving Byram only a short while ago seemed like a farfetched idea that would never happen. However, among the recent level of play by the team after the All-Star break, there's a clear need for additional help among the forward group.
On the one side, Byram is still extremely young and holds a high amount of raw talent and ability that could propel him into the top-pairing defenseman in the NHL he was once projected to become.
Unfortunately for the young man, his first two seasons in the NHL were riddled with concussion issues and a lower-body injury that caused him to miss roughly half of the 2022-23 season and a combined 126 games through his first three years with the Avalanche. Moving a player like that is never fun when looking back five or 10 years from now and wondering what could have been had the Avalanche found a way to keep him in the mix.
On the other side, Byram is blocked on the depth chart by his teammate Samuel Girard who is currently holding down the second pairing defenseman role he could move his way into. With Girard (25) under contract at $5 million per season through the end of the 2025-26 campaign, it is unlikely the front office will opt to move the defender instead of Byram.
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With a loaded top-four that are all under contract for at least two more seasons, the youngster is the best trade chip the Avalanche have to help improve their forward core as they look to make a playoff push.
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