Jets prepared to move on without Byfuglien

"He's been out half the year."Byfuglien, who has been rehabilitating his surgically repaired ankle, has missed the first 53 games of the regular season.The Jets (26-23-4), who host the Nashville Predators at Bell MTS Place on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, FS-TN, NHL.TV) tied for fourth in the Central Division with the Chicago Blackhawks and are three points back of the Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference."It's tough to see a guy go but we've been without him all year so it's not like anything really changes now," center Mark Scheifele said. I try to focus on what I can control."Laine said Byfuglien was a major figure for him in the Jets locker room during the forward's first three NHL seasons."It's unfortunate to see that kind of guy leave but it's still his career and his life," Laine said. He won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010 and was traded with forward Ben Eager, defenseman Brent Sopel and forward prospect Akim Aliu to the Atlanta Thrashers for first-and-second-round picks in the 2010 NHL Draft, forwards Marty Reasoner and Joey Crabb, and forward prospect Jeremy Morin on June 24, 2010.In nine seasons with the Thrashers/Jets franchise, Byfuglien has 416 points (122 goals, 294 assists) in 609 games.In addition to missing Byfuglien, the Jets have used a revamped defense after the departures of Jacob Trouba via trade (New York Rangers), and Tyler Myers (Vancouver Canucks) and Ben Chiarot (Canadiens) via free agency in the offseason.Not counting Byfuglien, Winnipeg has lost 207 man-games to injury this season, including defensemen Tucker Poolman (seven games, lower body), who is out indefinitely, Carl Dahlstrom (six games, broken hand), who is out six weeks, and Nathan Beaulieu (13 games, lower body), who was activated from injured reserve Tuesday.