Vancouver Canucks Reportedly Aggressively "Pushing Hard" For Buffalo Sabres Defenseman

The National Hockey League's offseason is in full swing and things are only going to get busier in the day ahead with the opening of the free agency window on Canada Day.

While the Vancouver Canucks aren't expected to be major players in the free agent market, other than for depth, Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford are hoping to remain active through trade to address some of the teams needs, with a top-four defenseman appearing to be on their eyes.

During an appearance on the Barn Burner podcast on Friday, TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger gave an update on the Bowen Byram file, with his name being in the rumor mill for the last month or so.

According to Dreger, the Vancouver Canucks have been making a hard push to land Bowen Byram this summer and are joined by a pair of Pacific Division teams, the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights.

Byram, 24, is a player that the Vancouver Canucks have been linked to for quite a while now, even before his trade to the Buffalo Sabres from Colorado in March 2024.

The Cranbrook, British Columbia native was the fourth overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and took a big stride this season, setting a new career-high in points with 38 (seven goals, 31 assists), along with 46 penalty minutes and was a plus-11.

During his career so far, Byram has been forced to play behind two solid defenseman in Cale Makar and Rasmus Dahlin and while he would be stuck behind Quinn Hughes in Vancouver, he would probably prefer the opportunity to play for the Canucks in his home province of British Columbia and wouldn't care too much about his role.