Apparently, the Vancouver Canucks were trying to acquire Bowen Byram a couple of summers ago.

As the Canucks potentially search for another puck-moving defenceman for their top four, one name that has been tossed around is that of the Buffalo Sabres‘ defenceman.

However, this isn’t the first time the two names have been connected in rumours. According to Rick Dhaliwal on Donnie and Dhali, when the Canucks were receiving trade calls on JT Miller prior to his extension kicking in, Byram’s former team, the Colorado Avalanche, were interested in acquiring the veteran centre. However, when the Canucks asked for a return that included Byram, the Avs said no.

“[Byram]’s a player this Canucks regime has gone after before,” said Dhaliwal. “Remember the million rumours that JT Miller was going to the [Pittsburgh] Penguins or the [New York] Rangers? Well, the Avalanche were also after Miller. The Canucks asked for a package centred around Bowen Byram and Alex Newhook, the Avalanche said no.”

The Canucks obviously held on to Miller, while Byram was eventually dealt to the Sabres at the 2024 trade deadline in a move that sent Casey Mittelstadt to the Avalanche. Byram has had a good start to the season in Buffalo, as he has 1 goal and 5 assists for 6 points in 12 games. Should he play all 82 games this season, that’s a 41-point pace, which far surpasses his previous career high of 29 points set last season.

Byram is in the final year of a two-year contract with a $3.85 million cap hit and is set to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at the end of the season.

The Canucks will look to build off of Saturday’s 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks when they continue their California road trip by visiting the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday at 7 p.m. PST. Vancouver currently sits in third in the Pacific Division with a 5-2-3 record.