New Jersey continued their impressive offseason by adding veteran defenseman Brenden Dillion to a three-year contract worth $12.0 million ($4.0M AAV). The 33-year-old is entering his 14th NHL season and is 108 games from the 1000 games played mark. In 2023-24 he had eight goals, 20 points, 92 PIMs and a +20 plus/minus in 77 games played with Winnipeg.
Dillion did not play in game four due to a hand injury and will miss a second straight game on Tuesday night. The Jets find themselves in a 3-1 series deficit, now without Dillon, who had three assists, 12 hits, and six blocks while averaging 21:04 time-on-ice through the first three games of the series.
There was a massive scrum at the end of Game 3, which left Dillon's hand bloodied as he skated to the dressing room. Head coach Rick Bowness did not have an update on his status post-game, but expect Logan Stanley to replace him if he's unavailable for Game 4 on Sunday.
With the Jets locked into a first-round matchup with the Colorado Avalanche, they will sit a number of players in their season finale. Dillon, who will be replaced by Nate Schmidt on Thursday, finishes the season with a career-high eight goals and 12 assists (20 points) in 77 games.
Dillon has served his three-game suspension and will return to Winnipeg's lineup on Saturday in Vancouver. The 33-year-old defenseman will make a welcome return to the Jets' back end as he had six goals, 15 points, 47 SOG, 75 PIMs and a +16 plus/minus through 48 games prior to his suspension.
Dillon was a game-time decision for Friday's game in Florida due to the lower-body injury. The 33-year-old blue-liner has four goals, three assists, and 50 hits in 18 games for the Jets this season.
Dillon has missed the last three games while in COVID-19 protocol but took part in Friday's practice and will be a game-time decision on Saturday afternoon.
Dillon will miss Thursday's game in Detroit, opening the door for Declan Chisholm to make his NHL debut.
Dillon, who is 30-years-old, has three years left on a contract that carries a $3.9M AAV cap-hit. Dillon is a huge (6-foot-4, 225 lbs.) defenseman who brings a rugged style to the Jets' blueline that they were missing in 2020-21. Dillon ranked eighth among defensemen in hits (143) but is also capable of chipping in offensively, averaging three goals and 19 assists (22 points) per 82 games over the last four seasons. He'll likely eat up the minutes left by Derek Forbort (17:57 TOI/gm).
Dillon, 29, was acquired from the Sharks for second and third round draft picks last February and appeared in 10 regular season and eight playoff games with Washington. He picked up just one assist, 42 hits and 26 blocked shots in a Capitals uniform. With Michal Kempny out for 6-to-8 months, the Capitals were quick to re-sign the 6-foot-4, 225 lbs. defenseman.
Dillon suffered an upper-body injury back on February 9th and will not play Monday, but could be back for Wednesday’s contest. Dillon has just six points (1G / 5A) in 52 games this season. With Dillon out and Roman Polak not expected to play, Matt Tennyson will remain in the lineup.
