Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Dustin Byfuglien Playing Two Roles

09/21/2014 at 9:51am EDT

from Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun,

I asked Byfuglien a simple question about his expectations for the season.

"Um, be back on defence anytime, right away," quipped Byfuglien, before getting serious again. "No, just have a good start and do what I do and bring to the table what I usually do. Provide a little bit of everything. Focus on defence first and the offence will come."

Just how productive Byfuglien can be during a full season in the hybrid role of playing forward at five-on-five and defence on the power play and in other situations like four-on-four on occasion is anyone's guess.

But Byfuglien's blend of size, skill and strength obviously has Maurice believing it can lead to some impressive things.

"There's really nothing this man can't do on the ice," said Maurice. "He's a Top-six forward and he can play defence, if you need him to. He's big, he's strong, he's exceedingly smart -- in terms of his reads on the ice."

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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