Winnipeg Jets Season Review: The NHL’s Preeminent Enforcer
The Winnipeg Jets best defender, in all likelihood, is Jacob Trouba. Their most terrifying presence, and best scoring defenseman, is Dustin Byfuglien.
The Winnipeg Jets have used the, for lack of a better word, brutality of Dustin Byfuglien to scare their opponents since the year before they moved from Atlanta.
I hate just talking about Dustin Byfuglien as a destructive force, because he’s so much more. But good heavens is he terrifying. We as analysts and fans can’t really use any advanced statistics to quantify fear, but I can’t imagine there’s a player others are more terrified of.
Sometimes it’s awesome and fun, like against the Vegas Golden Knights. But sometimes it’s excessive and violent, like when he tried to decapitate J.T. Miller.
There’s a certain give and take when it comes to players like this. Dirty plays are going to happen, but there’s a limit. Byfuglien is always pushing the limit. He went for three fighting majors last season, including one in the postseason.
I bring all this up because this is perhaps Byfuglien’s greatest contribution to Winnipeg. I can’t say I like how damaging they can be, but I think fighting is a necessary part of the NHL.
Certain players know what they’re getting into when you drop the gloves, and the threat of that stops players from throwing the body with impunity. You might think twice about boarding Patrik Laine if you know you’re going to have to box Byfuglien right afterward.
All that being said, Dustin Byfuglien’s injury certainly showed up on his stat sheet. He missed just 13 games with a lower-body injury, but came up with his lowest goal total (8) since the lockout season, and his lowest ever when he surpassed 50 games.
Being 32 and playing the way he does, the Winnipeg Jets must have been concerned the decline was coming. And it might be! Injuries don’t tend to stay away as you reach that age.
But! Byfuglien had two goals and 19 points in 38 games before the All-Star break. After? He put up six goals and 26 points in 31 games. That’s more like it.
Oh, and remember the playoffs? The 13 game break Byfuglien got must have rejuvenated him, as he put up five goals and 16 points in 17 playoff contests. Real good, Dustin. Real good. Just when it looked like the Jets might be passing him by, he showed his value.
Which is good, too, since he’s signed for three more seasons at a $7.6mm cap hit. And with the Jets resurgence on the back end (Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey being fantastic, mostly), they don’t need to lean on Byfuglien as much.
There’s two things about that. First, a $7.6mm cap hit for a second-pairing defenseman isn’t great. And it isn’t, but he’s still really good and really valuable. On the other hand, being able to give Byfuglien more time on the bench should make him better on the ice moving forward.
He’s the oldest Jet under contract for the coming season, so getting him some rest for another playoff run will be paramount.
So maybe his regular season didn’t set the world alight, but we know his impact goes beyond the stat sheet. Byfuglien is a super important piece to the Jets. I’m not sure why he struggled in the first half of the season, but it was really nice to see him show up in the second half.
It was even nicer to see him perform in the playoffs. Byfuglien’s reputation sometimes gets in the way of how good of a hockey player he actually is. They’re lucky to have him moving forward, and I would expect 10-20 goals and 40+ points next season. But if he doesn’t get there, it might be workload management.
*Also, as a footnote, thank you for your patience during my vacation this week. I’m back on the train now. Thanks for reading, as always.