'Big Buff' can fish and hunt to his heart's content in Manitoba. The defenceman will call Winnipeg home at least for the next five years.
Dustin Byfuglien signed a five-year, $38-million contract extension with the Jets on Monday afternoon after talks heated up over the weekend.
The deal will pay Byfuglien an AAV of $7.6 million per season, giving him the NHL's third-highest salary cap hit among defencemen, behind only Montreal's P.K. Subban and Nashville's Shea Weber.
Byfuglien, 30, was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. His signing represents a significant commitment from the Jets in both term and salary, making him a pillar for the team to build around.
There was some debate as to whether the Jets would focus on Byfuglien or captain Andrew Ladd to be that cornerstone, given that both were on expiring contracts this season.
Where Byfuglien's extension leaves Ladd's future in Winnipeg remains to be seen.
The Jets have more salary cap space than any of the NHL's other 29 teams, but that flexibility will quickly evaporate once Byfuglien's contract kicks in next year, along with new deals for defenceman Jacob Trouba, centre Mark Scheifele and others. Trouba, 21, is due a massive raise from his rookie contract - and given the trend of long-term deals for other young, standout blueliners, it is unlikely to be a short "bridge" deal.
Aside from Ladd, defencemen Adam Pardy and Grant Clitsome are the only two other expiring unrestricted free agent contracts in the Jets' organization, which doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room.
The Jets could still afford to fit in Ladd, also 30, with a new deal - but it would likely mean squeezing at other positions.
Byfuglien made the choice easy for the Jets. He leads all Jets skaters in ice time and the team seems to feed off the 6-foot-5 behemoth's physicality, energy and emotion.
Byfuglien has piled up the points of late, too. He has 15 goals and 17 assists for 32 points in 52 games this season. Byfuglien is tied for second in the NHL in goals among defencemen and he's collected seven points in his last five games.
The three-time All-Star joined the Jets' organization via trade on June 24, 2010, while the team was still situated in Atlanta. The deal occurred just days after Byfuglien's tour-de-force performance helped the Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup in 49 years. His four points in Game 5 of the final against the Flyers that spring were a playoff career high, a mark he's only had four chances to equal since joining the Jets.
If he was available at the trade deadline later this month, Byfuglien was ranked as the No. 1 commodity on TSN's annual Trade Bait board - with many teams salivating for his services. But Byfuglien made it clear last week that he wanted to stay in Winnipeg if possible, calling it home. The Roseau, Minn., native grew up just a few hours from Winnipeg.
"Yeah, I'd love to," Byfuglien told reporters. "I've met a lot of good people and now some really good friends. I've been here for a long time. You never want to leave home. I've been here long enough; my family has been here and I've had two kids here. It's somewhere you don't want to leave."
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