The Montreal Canadiens will be looking at every avenue to improve their team this offseason. Could Dustin Byfuglien look to be reunited with his former partner?
The Montreal Canadiens have not played a playoff game since 2017. They will be looking at every possible scenario to improve their team next season and hope to make some noise in the 2021 postseason. One interesting possibility came available yesterday when the Winnipeg Jets parted ways with Dustin Byfuglien.
The saga surrounding Byfuglien and the Jets has been a front burner topic all season. The hulking right defender arrived at camp but quickly told management he wouldn’t be taking part and wanted to take some time off. This dragged on for weeks and speculation grew about his desire to play this season.
Then, Byfuglien was suddenly injured since last year’s playoffs and wanted to be paid by the Jets while he did not play hockey. This intensified the standoff and dragged things on further and further. There was no resolution to the situation until yesterday, when it was announced that Byfuglien’s contract with the Jets was to be terminated.
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This means the punishing two-way defender is now an unrestricted free agent. He is not eligible to play in the 2020 postseason if it ever happens, so it is unlikely that he will suit up anywhere until next season.
Now, there are two possibilities here as to why this situation ended up the way it did in Winnipeg. Either Byfuglien doesn’t want to play hockey anymore but thought he could still collect the money owed on his contract by not retiring and finding an existing injury. Or, he just doesn’t want to play in Winnipeg anymore, wanted to get out but the Jets couldn’t make a trade work with his cap hit of $7.6 million that ran until the end of the 2020-21 season.
If the former is true, the Dustin Byfuglien story is over. He will retire and we will never see him perform on the ice again. If the latter is true, the Montreal Canadiens would make a really strong case as being the best landing spot for him.
First of all, Byfuglien came up through the Chicago Blackhawks system and ultimately helped them win a Stanley Cup in 2010. The Montreal Canadiens current general manager Marc Bergevin was the Director of Player Personnel for the Blackhawks at that time. He was a scout for the team when Byfuglien made his NHL debut, Bergevin became an assistant coach in 2008-09 when Byfuglien was in his second full season in the league, and they won a Cup together before Byfuglien was a salary cap casualty.
Although Bergevin was part of the management team when Byfuglien was traded, the Habs GM has a knack for developing a good rapport with his players. I don’t know the exact details of the relationship between the two, but they were in the Blackhawks organization together for five years and are well known to each other.
Also, when Byfuglien last played, he was playing on a second pairing in Winnipeg. Though it could be argued that he was their best defenceman, Josh Morrissey and Jacob Trouba were playing together on the top pairing. Byfuglien’s partner on the second pairing? Ben Chiarot.
Chiarot of course, signed a three-year contract with the Canadiens last summer and had a great first campaign in Montreal. If Byfuglien does want to play hockey again, but doesn’t want to do it in Winnipeg, signing in Montreal would give him a chance to play with a very familiar partner.
The Habs couldn’t afford to go long-term with Byfuglien, as he will be coming off a lost season and is 35 years old. No one is going to want to give him multiple years as they are guaranteed since he will be 35 when he signs the deal. That means even if he retires, his cap hit wouldn’t come off the books because he was 35 or older when he signed the contract.
This is why the Toronto Maple Leafs had to give up a first round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes to get rid of Patrick Marleau’s contract. They couldn’t buy him out because he was older than 35 when he signed.
Also, teams are going to be extra cautious this offseason because the salary cap is likely to remain the same or go down after all the lost revenue due to the season going on pause. So, even the teams willing to give Byfuglien one year won’t be able to give him a huge number because they won’t have the space.
The Canadiens may face a cap crunch following the 20-21 season when they have to re-sign Brendan Gallagher, Phillip Danault, Tomas Tatar and Jeff Petry. However, they have had plenty of space the past three seasons and look to have lots of room heading into next year as well.
Right defence isn’t the Habs biggest, most glaring need right now. However, the team hasn’t played a playoff game in three years and needs to add talented players wherever they can. Byfuglien shaking loose from his Jets contract could give the Habs a huge opportunity to add a dynamic presence.
The last time we saw Byfuglien on the ice, he scored eight points in six playoff games against the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the 2019 postseason. He had 31 points in 42 games that year, played in all situations and formed a terrific pairing with Chiarot.
If he signed in Montreal, he could saddle up next to Chiarot again. This would give the Habs a great top-four pairing alongside Shea Weber and Victor Mete. A third pairing of Jeff Petry and Alexander Romanov would give the Habs an exceptional group of defenders. With Cale Fleury, Brett Kulak and Noah Juulsen ready to step in when injuries occur, there would be more depth than we have seen in many years on the blue line.
It’s possible we have already seen the last of Dustin Byfuglien in the NHL. However, if he wants to return next season, the Canadiens can offer an enticing package including decent salary on a one year contract, an opportunity to play in the top four and they are the only team that can give him the chance to play with his most recent defence partner.