For the most part, Dustin Byfuglien seemed rather ... detached when discussing Winnipeg Jets training camp on Saturday. The one exception seemed to be when the focus shifted to what seemed like his fairly apparent preference to play defense instead of what seems to be his future as a Jets forward.
Byfuglien admits, “God, defense was just so fun, though ...” around the one-minute mark:
PHT pondered that conundrum in early August and The Score presented interesting pros and cons of both sides of the coin here.
It’s interesting that Byfuglien, 29, and Brent Burns - both players who draw natural comparisons as “rovers” who have played both forward and on the blueline - each seem to prefer playing on D. Maybe it’s just a natural byproduct of defensemen generally getting more minutes on the ice, but there are strong arguments for keeping Burns at forward and conversely moving Byfuglien back to defense.
Ultimately, it’s the coach’s (or organization’s) choice, but the Jets might be wise to mix and match to see which “version” of the unique offensive weapon works best.
There’s little doubt about where he’s happiest, though, it seems.