The Winnipeg Jets’ announced that Dustin Byfuglien has been invited to the 2016 NHL All-Star Game in Nashville. This will be the large and carefree defender’s fourth visitation to the annual festivity. It should be noted that “Big Buff” has been invited to the games every season that he has been both healthy and playing as a NHL defenseman, which is quite the accomplishment.

Despite the Jets’ struggles, Byfuglien has been playing particularly well this year. He has nine goals and fourteen assists in forty games so far this season. The Jets’ control 54.2 per cent of all shots (ie: Corsi percentage) with the thirty-year-old on the ice, while they only control 49.3 per cent with him on the bench. Goals paint a similar picture of Byfuglien with the Jets controlling 57.8 per cent of goals with him on the ice, but only 48.6 per cent with him on the bench.

Byfuglien ranks first and second on the team in Corsi and goal percentage respectively, with only himself and Tobias Enstrom sitting above 53 per cent in either metric.

In relative metrics (difference of a team’s performance with the player on the ice and on the bench values) Byfuglien sits 12th in relative Corsi percentage and 10th in relative goal percentage for the 90 defenders with over 600 minutes of ice time.

Despite playing a good chunk of both of the previous seasons as a forward, Byfuglien is pacing at about the same in 5v5 point production, scoring about 1.2 points for every sixty minutes. For context, the average first pair defender puts up 0.74 points per sixty, and the average second pair defender puts up 0.68 points per sixty.

Byfuglien is an elite offensive defenseman, putting 103 5v5 points since the move to Winnipeg, and is out paced per minute only by Karlsson, Hedman, and Letang over that time period (minimum of 3000 minutes). When looking at all minutes (including special teams, 4v4, and other situations) Byfuglien places third, only behind Karlsson and Letang.

While the All-Star games are a celebration of hockey, and Byfuglien’s nomination is a celebration of what an amazingly gifted hockey player the sometimes lackadaisical defender is, it also serves a reminder of the looming threat that comes with the Byfuglien and what the Jets may lose via trade or free agency.