There’s a question the Winnipeg Jets will probably want to answer sooner rather than later: what to do with Dustin Byfuglien?
There are three trains of thought general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff will be taking in relation to Byfuglien. The 30-year-old defenceman will make $5.2-million in the final year of his contract next year and will hit unrestricted free agency as one of the best defenceman on the market with no shortage of teams looking for his game-breaking ability.
So what would be the cost of extending Byfuglien? In a perfect world, the Jets would lock him up to a short-term deal for a little more AAV, like they did earlier this offseason with Drew Stafford. But, and maybe a little too obviously, that doesn’t make any sense for Byfuglien, who would be leaving a lot of security on the table in what could be his final, best chance to score a big money deal.
Four years might be the lowest term Buff would be willing to go but you also have to look at what the Jets situation will be in that span. Andrew Ladd is also a UFA next season and I’d be shocked to see him go anywhere. Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry, and Jacob Trouba all hit restricted free agency next year and will see their earnings increase.
Even with a removed Byfuglien, the Jets have a good defensive corp with Trouba, Tyler Myers and Paul Postma on the right hand and Toby Enstrom, Mark Stuart, Josh Morrissey and Mark Stuart on the left. With the defence in good shape, maybe it is time to seriously explore a trade in Byfuglien.
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The down side to this is the Jets as a team would likely be weaker this year in any player-for-player trade and a borderline playoff team, it would hurt their chances in getting back into the 16 team field. But long term, the Jets may be faced with the difficult decision of letting another key player or two go because of any extension or lose Byfuglien for nothing next year as a UFA.
There is the wait-and-see approach that Cheveldayoff could take, which I strongly hope he doesn’t. The Jets let Michael Frolik play out the final year of his contract and while he helped with the playoff push, Winnipeg received nothing for his services. Small market teams like the Jets can’t afford letting talents like Byfuglien leave for nothing, it’s poor asset management.
Waiting mid-season to explore an extension could prove to be a distraction and any in-season trade involving a player of Byfuglien magnitude could hurt team chemistry. Cheveldayoff shouldn’t wait any longer past training camp to make a decision on what to do with #33.