Cold water poured on Dustin Byfuglien’s potential return for 2020-21 NHL season

Many reporters have stunned the hockey world lately, suggesting that teams looking for a boost on the back end, notably the Toronto Maple Leafs, should add veteran blue liner Dustin Byfuglien to their roster for the 2020-21 season. 

And the Maple Leafs are reportedly not the only team thinking about that options. According to insider Andy Strickland of FOX Sports, several clubs have inquired about the possibility of adding Byfuglien to their lineup. 

However, and this is a huge however, it sounds like a return of the veteran defenseman in the league for next season is doubtful. 

Buff hasn’t played since the end of the 2018-19 season and there were talks he was not interested in coming back to the game. 

We all remember how this all started when Byfuglien refused to show up at the Jets training camp at the start of the season. On September 13, 2019, the blue liner was granted an indefinite personal leave of absence by the team. However, he was later suspended by the Jets for not returning to training camp, though later reports indicated this was for salary cap relief. He underwent surgery for a high ankle sprain in late October, 2019, without direct involvement of the team. Byfuglien’s camp claimed that surgery was a result of injuries suffered during the previous regular season and playoffs and the Jets should have paid for it. Winnipeg claimed Byfuglien had been given a clean bill of health at the end of the 2018-19 season. This is what led to the grievance being filed. On February 24, 2020, the Jets announced that Byfuglien would not return for the remainder of the season.

When his contract was terminated, many assumed that Buff could settle for a smaller deal with another team, however, COVID-19 happened, the NHL’ Return to Play plan and now the offseason is at our doors. And now it sounds like he doesn’t have any interest for that…

The 35-year-old defenseman tallied four goals and 27 assists for a total of 31 points in 42 games in 2018-19.

And that might be the end of his career’s stats sheet.