Rumor: Dustin Byfuglien is leaning towards retirement.

If you are a fan of the Winnipeg Jets it may be time to start being seriously concerned about the future of your defense. 

As fans in Winnipeg will certainly know, arguably the biggest talking point around the Winnipeg Jets at the start of the 2019 - 2020 National Hockey League regular season has been the one surrounding the future of star defenseman Dustin Byfuglien. The veteran blue liner has taken what can only be described as an indefinite leave of absence from the team as he ponders whether or not he wants to continue his career in the NHL moving forward. During training camp it was much easier to blow it off as an aging player taking extra time to rest his body in preparation for the upcoming rigors of another NHL season, however now that the regular season has begun without Byfuglien in the lineup those concerns have become much more serious.

The latest report from Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman does not bring much hope either. The insider was a guest on the "Lead Off" this week when he shared the latest on the status of Byfuglien and how it pertains to the Jets. Although Friedman did not claim to have any direct knowledge of the situation, he did strongly hint at the fact that his sources had indicated to him that the big man was leaning towards retirement, and furthermore that it would take something from the Jets organization to convince him to come back to play for another season.

"I think they are still gonna wait for him to make his decision," said Friedman before adding, "you know I hate to be negative the word is that they have to talk him out of retiring. 

That certainly makes it sound to me like if the 34 year old had his way he would simply choose to walk away from the game for good. You have to ask yourself if the Jets even have to talk him into coming back, what kind of performance and motivation could they expect out of Byfuglien if he were to return under these circumstances? I hate to say it Jets' fans but things are not looking good at the moment.