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On the surface, it all seems a bit crazy.

Turning down an $8 million payday. Foregoing free medical care, surgery, rehab, etc. Deciding, perhaps, at the last moment to walk away from a team you’ve played with since the 2010-11 season.

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For 99.9% of us, we’d be frothing at the mouth for the cash alone. The other .1% are lying to themselves.

And then there’s Dustin Byfuglien.

Byfuglien doesn’t fit the conventional mold of a human being. That’s not a slight against the big man, either — it’s just who he is.

If there was ever a role model for those truly wishing to go through life marching to the beat of their own drum, Byfuglien would be that poster child.

He does what he wants. He answers to no one. And he’s one of an extremely short list of people who’d turn down that kind of money and that kind of health security to stay true to himself.

But that’s Byfuglien. He’s not one to compromise, evidently.

This isn’t new for the 34-year-old defenceman. If three-time Stanley Cup champ Duncan Keith is to be believed, Byfuglien’s penchant for doing his thing his way is deeply rooted.