It is no secret that Kyle Dubas did not like what he saw from the Penguins defense this past season. It should come to nobody's surprise that he wants to fix one of the major problems that has plagued the Penguins for years now.
Obviously one of the ways to slowly start to fix this issue is getting rid of Erik Karlsson, and one of the players that could be a big step forward in replacing him is Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram.
Byram is still young at 23 years old and put up 38 points in all 82 games this past season. He would be a nice addition and starting piece to fixing the Penguins defense.
What would it take to acquire Byram?
Knowing that Byram is a former 4th overall pick back in 2019, and is still relatively young and can help produce on the backend, the Penguins might have to be willing to part with their second rounder from this year's draft or if the Rangers give the Penguins the 12th overall pick, that might be a starting point as well.
The Penguins really need someone with Byram's age and upside to help them on their blue line. What the Penguins lack on defense is someone who is relatively young, needs a potential change of scenery, and it helps that they will be getting a new coach that can work with him if Byram is indeed acquired by the Penguins.
But the Sabres are in that stage where they really cannot be trading young players of theirs that have that upside that can produce where they really lack production. The Sabres are a team that is really trying to make the playoffs, not one that is going to continue to sell off assets for years since they have been in a rebuild for so long now.