Byfuglien considers retirement after taking leave of absence from Jets

The Winnipeg Jets could be dealt the biggest blow ahead of the 2019-20 season as TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that defenseman Dustin Byfuglien is believed to be pondering his NHL future as he takes a leave of absence from the club.

McKenzie notes Byfuglien is said to be weighing his options at the moment and remains without a timetable for a decision. His agent, Ben Hankinson or Byfuglien himself did not respond to a request for comment from McKenzie.

McKenzie’s colleague Darren Dreger added that the Jets are expected to give Byfuglien as much space and time as he needs during the process.

On the first day of training camp it was announced that Byfuglien was granted a leave of absence by the team though it was never explained why the blue liner needed time off the ice. 

“Let’s just put it this way — there’s nothing sinister to this,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said of Byfuglien’s leave last week. “You start going down the list and then the process of elimination … he has his right to privacy in this. Like I said, there’s nothing sinister to it. He needs some time and he was given that.”

The veteran player has dealt with more injuries in the past few seasons, he who  had four goals and 27 assists in just 42 games last season. Byfuglien, who was selected in the eighth round by the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2003, is a veteran of 869 career NHL games and has 177 goals and 525 points in his career.

He is signed through next season at a cap hit of $7.6 million. 

The Jets are now believed to be looking at the option of landing a top defenseman on the trade market, especially after losing Jacob Trouba, Ben Chariot and Tyler Myers over the course of the summer. 

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun wondered after learning about Byfuglien whether the Jets will look into adding a defende. Hereports that Rasmus Ristolainen of the Buffalo Sabres and Justin Faulk of the Carolina Hurricanes are top-four right-shot defensemen that are believed to be available on the trade market. He adds that the Jets are believed to be on Faulk’s approved trade list.