Chris Drury's trade deadline will be hectic, but the New York Rangers need to address one desperate hole: that left side of the defense. Ryan Lindgren and Urho Vaakanainen are not good enough to be on a team with playoff aspirations based on their seasons. However, Frank Seravalli's trade bait board for DailyFaceoff might provide the solution. One defenseman sticks out as someone the Rangers could acquire and who would be a good fit long-term for this organization: Bowen Byram.
Bowen Byram was the Colorado Avalanche's fourth overall pick in the 2019 NHL entry draft. He was drafted with the pick the Avalanche got for Matt Duchene many years ago, but that's not the point. He was traded to Buffalo ahead of the deadline last year for Casey Mittelstadt, but that deal hasn't worked out for either team, as both could now see their acquisitions move on to a new team.
Byram has 29 points in 55 games with the Sabres, but he's not up to the defensive level the Sabres need to return to the postseason. Looking at his analytics, per Natural Stat Trick, Byram has an expected goals for 40.77, an expected goals against 43.44, and an expected goals percentage of 48.1. Anything below 50% is awful. Can that be attributed to the team around him? He's playing most of his minutes with Rasmus Dahlin, so it's unlikely.
Why should the Rangers want a guy struggling to stick on the Sabres roster? His youth is one thing. Still just 23 years old, this is a player the Rangers can let grow with their young core. He's capable of playing offense and skating, which would lift the load off someone like Adam Fox. He's a pending restricted free agent, which means the Rangers can live with his new cap hit with the expected growth over the next few years.