Friedman on Jets' Kane, Byfuglien trade rumours

Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 960 Monday morning.

On talk of the Winnipeg Jets and if they’ll trade Evander Kane:

“I don’t think they’re going to trade him.”

There seems to be more buzz or likelihood of the Jets trading Dustin Byfuglien:

“The thing about Byfuglien is he’s getting close to his contract being up.

“The Winnipeg situation is really interesting to me because there have been a lot of rumours about how all those guys get along. I’ll tell you something interesting about Byfuglien. I was told last year when the young guys like Scheifele and Trouba were around, before both got hurt at times, Byfuglien was the guy who was really inclusive to them. He’d always be the guy who would go up to them and say, ‘Hey, do you guys have somewhere to go for dinner tonight,’ whether they were at home or on the road. He was a guy who really helped out with them and was one of the best guys to them. And I heard some people looked at Byfuglien very positively for that.

“I think the thing about Byfuglien is, I think people just have to get used to who and what he is. I know he’s frustrating sometimes. He comes in heavier than you like, he takes longer shifts than you like. But if you look at what he does on the ice, Dean, that’s hard to replace. How many guys are as versatile as he is, can play forward five-on-five, be a devastating guy on your power play, and then, if you really need it, he can go back and play a shift on defence and not kill you.

“I get that Byfuglien can be frustrating and I think if Winnipeg deals him, it’s probably going to be a contract thing.

“I remember a couple of years ago, I heard rumours that Byfuglien was available and the agent was taken by surprise and the team ferociously denied it. Like, harder than regular denials go. So I’ve heard these rumours about Byfuglien before and it’s never happened. I just think Winnipeg is eventually going to have to do something to shake up their group.

“And I think they’ll have a big decision with their rookie too. There were a lot of people who watched him last week in Penticton and they kind of said, ‘This guy might be ready now.’”

Source: Sportsnet 960/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey