On Thursday night, the Winnipeg Jets coaching staff confirmed that star defenseman Dustin Byfuglien did suffer a concussion in his massive open-ice collision with Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jamie Oleksiak on Tuesday night and the team has placed him on the Injured Reserve with no timetable for a return.
There were plenty of indications on the play that would have led you to believe that he had suffered a concussion right away, but he was cleared by doctors to return to play in that game, finishing with a game-high in ice-time, but the symptoms clearly returned and he was held out of Thursday night's game against the Blackhawks and the announcement came after the game.
After Thursday night's games, the veteran defenseman ranks 134th overall in hockey pool scoring, 14th among all defensemen, with 2 goals and 17 points in 21 games this year for the Jets. He has been quite the force for the Jets at both ends of the ice and a big contributor to their early season successes.
It has been a rough few weeks for Dale C.'s team, which lost its best goalie a couple weeks ago, lost its best forward earlier this week and now will be without its best defenseman for an indefinite stretch. None of these players are deemed replaceable in the Waiver Draft, but with the right timetable, they might have to be.
Dale's team finished play on Thursday night in 17th place, 42 points out of 3rd place.
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