The LA Kings defense has gone through a significant amount of change this offseason but it is hard to make the argument they are better right now than last season. The Kings would lose Vladislav Gavrikov as a free agent to the New York Rangers and trade Jordan Spence to the Ottawa Senators.
In return, the Kings would sign free agents Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin, two veteran defensemen who should have been considered short-term fixes versus long-term solutions. However, Ken Holland would sign both to multi-year deals, and now that limits their ability to get younger and trade for a player like Bowen Byram.
According to David Pagnotta with The Fourth Period, the Los Angeles Kings are still a team that is trying to trade with the Buffalo Sabres for the young defenseman. They aren't the only team, though, as the Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, and St. Louis Blues, who Pagnotta notes have been the most aggressive, are also trying to trade for Byram.
LA Kings have too many long-term deals on defense to fit Bowen Byram in
The challenge for the Kings is that even if they could agree on the trade package, with the contracts they have, it is hard to imagine how they could fit Byram into this lineup. As it stands right now, the Kings have four players who are under contract for at least the next three seasons and that doesn't even include Drew Doughty, who has two more years.
If the Kings really wanted to get a trade done for Byram, and it definitely would be an upgrade on the defense, the only player who logically could be traded is Joel Edmundson. He has three years remaining in his contract with an AAV of $3.85 which isn't necessarily a great contract but is manageable for a team.
There are a lot of reasons to like a trade for Bowen Byram and his fit on the LA Kings defense. He is a young defenseman that can grow with a core of Mikey Anderson and Brandt Clarke. However, the contracts given out this summer for Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin make it a tough task to get a trade done without additional moves.