Latest On Dustin Byfuglien

Dustin Byfuglien’s leave of absence from the Jets was a big surprise heading into training camp and it doesn’t appear as there’s going to a return to action anytime soon.  In an appearance on Sportsnet 590 (video link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicated that at this stage, Winnipeg is basically trying to talk him out of retirement.

The 34-year-old has battled ankle and concussion trouble over the past couple of seasons to the point where he stepped away last month to ponder his NHL future and now we know which way he’s leaning at the moment.  Byfuglien still has two years left on his contract with $14MM in salary being owed to him over that time so it’s not as if it’s a situation where he has a back-diving contract where most of the money has already been paid on it.

The Jets have seen their defensive depth take a big hit over the offseason losing Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, and Ben Chiarot with their only real acquisition of note being Neal Pionk as part of the Trouba trade.  Now being without Byfuglien as well, what was once a strength has quickly turned to a weakness as Winnipeg has allowed ten goals through their first two games of the season.

While they would undoubtedly like to try to add to their back end, Byfuglien’s $7.6MM AAV is complicating things.  While he is currently suspended and not counting against their salary cap, the Jets only sit roughly $6.6MM under the Upper Limit, per CapFriendly.  In other words, if he was to come back over the next few weeks, they’d be over the cap.

Accordingly, Friedman notes that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is waiting to hear a final decision before making any moves.  If Byfuglien was to retire, then Winnipeg would have plenty of cap room to try to go and add another blueliner but for the time being, the waiting game will continue.