Byfuglien, Jets agree to terminate contract

Welcome to NHL.com, the official site of the National Hockey LeagueBienvenue à LNH.com , le site officiel de la Ligue nationale de hockeyДобро пожаловать на NHL.com, официальный сайт Национальной хоккейной лигиTervetuloa NHL:n viralliselle nettisivustolle NHL.comiinVälkommen till NHL.com, NHL:s officiella web-sidaVítejte na NHL.com, oficiálních stránkách National Hockey LeagueVitajte na NHL.com, oficiálnych stránkach National Hockey LeagueWillkommen auf NHL.com, der offiziellen Seite der National Hockey LeagueBienvenido a NHL.com, el sitio oficial de la National Hockey LeagueDustin Byfuglien and the Winnipeg Jets mutually agreed to terminate the defenseman's contract Friday.The move means Byfuglien is an unrestricted free agent, but it's not known if the 35-year-old has any desire to play in the NHL."Every player is different," Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said. 11 the conversation and the intent was that he had lost the desire to play in the National Hockey League," Cheveldayoff said.Byfuglien, who had ankle surgery in October, was in the fourth season of a five-year contract with an annual average value of $7.6 million he signed Feb. 8, 2016.Cheveldayoff said he considered trading Byfuglien before the NHL Trade Deadline on Feb. 24, but the defenseman said he did not have interest in playing elsewhere."Wasn't so much we decided we wanted to go in different directions, it was more just trying to see if this was about a trade," Cheveldayoff said. One last-ditch attempt before the trade deadline to see, 'Is it about a trade, do you want to go play somewhere else if I can make something happen here?' And it wasn't a situation where he said, 'I'll go here if you can trade me there.' It was, 'No, I'm content where I'm at.'"The Jets will be able to use Byfuglien's salary cap charge this season and next season for other players.Winnipeg (37-28-6) holds the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks. He was traded by Chicago with defenseman Brent Sopel and forwards Ben Eager and Akim Aliu to Atlanta on June 24, 2010, for a first-round pick and a second-round pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, and forwards Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb and Jeremy Morin.Tweet from @NHLJets: Thank you Dustin Byfuglien for your contributions over the years to the Winnipeg Jets!As a member of our organization, Byfuglien played 636 regular season and playoff games and tallied 441 points in that time.