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Brenden Dillon

West Notes: Labanc, Jets, Weegar

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Sharks winger Kevin Labanc has fully recovered from the shoulder woes that plagued him last season and he will be ready for training camp later this month, notes Corey Masisak of The Athletic (Twitter link).  He originally suffered the injury back in December and while it looked like he might be able to return late in the year, that didn’t wind up happening.  The 26-year-old had just three goals and three assists in 21 games before the injury, leading to some speculation that he could have been a buyout candidate for San Jose this summer although they obviously didn’t go that route.  With two years left on his contract that carries a $4.725MM AAV, the Sharks will be counting on a bounce-back year from their second-highest-paid winger.

More from around the Western Conference:

  • With both Ville Heinola and Dylan Samberg potentially being ready for full-time NHL duty, Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun suggests that one of Dylan DeMelo or Brenden Dillon could be a possible trade candidate for Winnipeg over the coming weeks. The Jets are one of the few teams that still has ample cap space at their disposal – more than $5.5MM, per CapFriendly – providing them with an opportunity to still add to their forward group.  DeMelo and Dillon are on affordable contracts ($3MM and $3.9MM, respectively) so swapping one for a forward of note could create a spot for one of those youngsters and give them a boost up front, a win-win situation for them.
  • While the Flames and Jonathan Huberdeau quickly reached an agreement on an extension after their summer trade with Florida, the same hasn’t happened yet with the other Calgary newcomer in MacKenzie Weegar. However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the two sides are indeed quietly talking about a new deal.  The 28-year-old is coming off a career year that saw him put up 44 points in 80 games while logging over 23 minutes per night, numbers that will give him a chance at doubling his current $3.25MM AAV on his next contract.

Brenden Dillon Dealt To Winnipeg Jets

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TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that the Washington Capitals have dealt defenseman Brenden Dillon to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for second-round picks in 2022 and 2023.

Dillon enters the Jets lineup immediately as one of their better and most experienced defensemen. A veteran of over 650 NHL contests, Dillon arrives in Winnipeg via Washington, who signed him to a deal with a $3.9MM cap hit at two years remaining.  With this trade, it appears that Winnipeg may finally be getting Josh Morrissey some relief on the back-end. Dillon has experience playing 19 to 20 minutes a night and could play on either the top or second pairing in Manitoba. If it’s any help to Morrissey, it’ll be appreciated. Since Morrissey’s been entrusted with added responsibility after the departure of Dustin Byfuglien, his defensive play has really struggled. Some additional defensive help and some easier matchups may make Morrissey a more effective asset. Regardless of that, they’re still getting an excellent defensive defenseman in Dillon, who’s done well against good, but not great competition over the past few seasons.

It does raise one question, as there’s now just one spot remaining on Winnipeg’s left side. Which one of Ville Heinola or Logan Stanley won’t be cracking next year’s lineup, and could there be an additional deal that moves one of them out? It’s a good problem to have for the Jets, who now look in much better shape defensively than last season.

For Washington, the clearing of Dillon’s $3.9MM cap hit is crucial to their success this offseason. With captain Alex Ovechkin likely commanding a double-digit deal, questions about Washington’s ability to continue to build a contender have loomed large due to the flat salary cap. With Dillon’s departure, it opens the door for Michal Kempny to reclaim a spot in the lineup after he missed the entirety of 2020-21 with injury. If Kempny is at 100%, he’s shown the ability to be a capable top-four defenseman in the past and could be the perfect in-house replacement for Dillon.

All salary cap figures courtesy of CapFriendly

Washington Capitals Extend Bobby Nardella

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The Washington Capitals have come to terms on a new deal with defenseman Bobby Nardella. CapFriendly reports that the two sides have agreed on a two-year extension that will keep the 25-year-old under contract through 2022-23, at which point he will be an unrestricted free agent. The contract carries the minimum NHL salary of $750K and is two-way this coming season, at $110K in the minors, before transitioning to one-way in year two.

If Nardella’s name does not immediately come to mind, it may be because he was under contract with Washington but playing in Sweden this past season. Nardella joined Djurgardens IF back in September, but rather than re-join the Capitals when training camps opened, the team allowed him to say overseas where he was thriving. Nardella recorded 33 points in 47 games this year in just his second professional season. He led Djurgardens in scoring and finished in the top five among SHL defenseman. He returns to North America having tasted what it is like to be an elite scoring defenseman in the pros and the Capitals hope to see that continue.

An undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame in 2019, Nardella is an undersized and offensive-minded blue liner, but has not let that limit him from making a difference in all three zones through his NCAA career and a season apiece in the AHL and SHL. Likely to return to the Hershey Bears to at least begin the 2021-22 season, Nardella could quickly earn a recall if he can show that his time in Sweden improved his game. The Capitals have no shortage of talented left-handed defense prospects such as Alexander Alexeyev, Martin Fehervary, and Lucas Johansen, but they could need immediate help at that area with Jonas Siegenthaler gone, Zdeno Chara heading for free agency or retirement, and Brenden Dillon a potential Expansion Draft casualty. Washington could be inclined to go with their most experienced option among that young group if they need defensive depth and that would be Nardella.

Off-Season Notes: Penguins, Oshie, Rinne

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It was another disappointing early playoff exit for the Pittsburgh Penguins but their new front office group, just installed earlier this season, is not looking to blow up the roster. NHL.com’s Wes Crosby writes that Penguins GM Ron Hextall intends to keep his aging core together and to remain in “win-now mode”. That means that contract negotiation talks are underway with center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang. The current deals for the 34-year-old duo expire at the end of next season, but Hextall would like to keep them around and is not currently considering trading either one. “We see a future with this core,” Hextall said. “We’ve got some pretty special players that, they’re obviously not in their 20s anymore, but they’re still playing at a high level.” The GM also expressed his confidence in young goaltender Tristan Jarry and did not label goaltending as an area of concern this off-season. Hextall instead stated that adding size and toughness is his priority this summer.

  • There has been considerable speculation that Washington Capitals forward and Washington (state, that is) native T.J. Oshie could be available to the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Oshie, 34 and signed for four more years, has been stellar for the Capitals, but has still been considered expendable due to his age and contract. Additionally, the idea that the Kraken would leap at the local product as a veteran leader for their new team would mean that Washington does not need to worry about other valuable expected exposures, like young goaltender Vitek Vanecek or defenseman Brenden Dillon. However, in an interview on 106.7 The Fan in D.C., GM Brian MacLellan called it “unlikely” that Oshie will be exposed. MacLellan called Oshie a “big part” of their team, which is not an understatement after this season. In 2020-21, Oshie showed no signs of age catching up to him, scoring goals and recording points at a career pace. Oshie’s 22 goals and 43 points were both top-three marks for the Capitals and had him on a full-season trajectory of 34 goals and 67 points. Oshie also tied for second in the entire league with 13 power play goals. If he can continue to score at this rate, perhaps his lengthy, expensive contract will continue to be worth it through 2024-25, justifying the decision not to make him available in expansion.
  • Although the final days of the Nashville Predators’ regular season certainly implied that we were seeing the end of career Predator and franchise icon Pekka Rinne, the veteran goaltender is not hanging his skate up just yet. In an exit interview with the Nashville communications staff, Rinne states that he has still not made a decision if he will retire or not. Notably, albeit unsurprisingly, is that the only alternative he provides to retirement is re-signing with Nashville. With young Juuse Saros established as the Predators’ current starter and elite prospect Yaroslav Askarov waiting in the wings, there isn’t a long-term need in net for the Predators. However, one more year with Rinne is certainly not a bad option.

West Notes: Golden Knights, Stars’ Injuries, Coyotes’ Changes, Samberg

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The Vegas Golden Knights seem to be a team that is being mentioned in multiple rumors for many pending unrestricted free agents despite having little to no cap room to speak of. The most recent one has the Golden Knights ready to pounce on St. Louis Blues star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who currently isn’t expected to re-sign with St. Louis.

David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal confirms that the Golden Knights are ready to go after the right-shot defenseman, who finished fourth in the Norris Trophy voting this year, assuming he reaches free agency on Oct. 9 and the team will deal with the salary cap juggling after that. Much of the reasoning comes from owner Bill Foley’s will to win and spend to the cap ceiling, while other teams are trying to refrain from that.

Of course, if Pietrangelo does opt to return to St. Louis or chooses another destination, the scribe notes there are other options for the team to upgrade on defense in free agency, including a pair of blueliners who spent time playing for head coach Peter DeBoer in San Jose, Brenden Dillon and Dylan DeMelo.

  • ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reports that the five Dallas Stars’ players who were “unfit to play” for Game 5 are still unfit as of Sunday. Ben Bishop, Roope Hintz, Radek Faksa, Stephen Johns and Blake Comeau are all expected to miss Game 6 on Monday. A new player to monitor, however, will be defenseman Andrej Sekera, who is considered to be a game-time decision, according to NHL.com’s Mike Heika. Sekera missed half of the first period and all of the second period after blocking a shot during Game 5 Saturday. He did return for the third period, but forced himself to play through the pain.
  • Coyotes beat reporter Craig Morgan reports that the scouting cleanout in Arizona is continuing. The team, who recently fired scouting director Lindsay Hofford and assistant to the GM Jake Goldberg, has removed two more names in the front office. Phil McRae, director of North American Amateur Scouting and Mat Milbury, an amateur scout, are both no longer with the team.
  • Murat Ates of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Winnipeg Jets defensive prospect Dylan Samberg’s ability to make the NHL squad out of training camp next season could be critical to the team’s playoff chances. Samberg, the 6-foot-4 defenseman out of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, is believed to be close to NHL ready, but might need more seasoning in the AHL. However, with just four defenseman under contract and little cap room to maneuver with, the scribe believes that the quicker that Samberg can get acclimated to the NHL pace could be critical for the team. While there is little worry about this defensive game, there are questions on how well his offense will translate over.

Capitals Pursuing New Deal With Brenden Dillon

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Back before the trade deadline, Washington parted with a second-round pick as well as a third-rounder to add defenseman Brenden Dillon from San Jose for the stretch run.  It appears that the Capitals have seen enough to want to keep him around as Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the team is actively pursuing a new contract for the pending unrestricted free agent.

The 29-year-old immediately stepped into a spot on Washington’s top four after being acquired, averaging just over 20 minutes a game after being acquired and nearly 23 minutes per night in the playoffs which had him behind only John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov.  While he won’t provide much in the way of offense (he averages three goals per 82 games over his nine-year NHL career), Dillon is a stabilizing defensive presence that can kill penalties while bringing some physicality to the table as well.  In other words, he’s the type of veteran that a lot of teams will want to have.

Dillon carried a $3.27MM cap hit on his now-expiring contract although his salary was $3.9MM in each of the last two years.  The latter number may be a better indicator of what his next deal could look like, especially using Montreal’s Joel Edmundson as a comparable (four years, $14MM).  There are only a handful of top-four defensemen that are set to hit the open market next month so Dillon will have some leverage in negotiations.  Capitals GM Brian MacLellan is determined to not let it get that far.

As for other free agents in Washington, El-Bashir reports that fellow Radko Gudas and winger Ilya Kovalchuk will join Braden Holtby in not returning; MacLellan confirmed earlier this month that the netminder would go to free agency.  Meanwhile, Washington may have some hesitance in tendering center Travis Boyd a qualifying offer due to his arbitration eligibility.  The 27-year-old only played in 24 games this season but put up 10 points which would certainly bolster his case in a hearing.

East Notes: Capitals Defense, Montreal Offer Sheet, Debrusk

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The Washington Capitals may be considered one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, but they have their work cut out for them. The team struggled in the last two months before play was suspended with a mediocre 8-9-3 over their past 20 games. Much of their struggle is due to the team’s poor defense where head coach Todd Reirden was seen experimenting with different defensive combinations over that stretch, which included removing veteran Radko Gudas from the rotation altogether.

In a panel of writers, The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir (subscription required) writes that a new training camp couldn’t come at the right time for the Capitals who now have a second chance to find the right pairings and fix their leaky blueline. Much will depend on the players and how they perform at training camp, but there is hope that defenseman Michal Kempny might have more confidence now in his surgically repaired hamstring. The team will also hope Gudas can bounce back and push his way back into the lineup. The team might also get a boost from trade deadline acquisition Brenden Dillon, who will get a training camp to adjust to his new team. El-Bashir also notes the team could look to prospect Martin Fehervary, who will also be on the Capitals’ roster.

  • In a recent mailbag column, The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription requires) responds to a question about offer sheets and St. Louis Blues defenseman Vince Dunn. Basu wonders whether the Montreal Canadiens might be an interesting destination for the 23-year-old blue liner since St. Louis is currently cap-strapped and have to deal with the contract of Alex Pietrangelo as well as the future contracts of Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Binnington. A significant offer sheet at around $4.2MM AAV would be very challenging for the Blues to match and would bring quite a few questions on whether Dunn is worth that much since. especially since he’s not even eligible for arbitration. That offer would only cost the Canadiens a second-round pick in compensation as well. Montreal is also the most recent team to use an offer sheet, having tried to pry away Carolina’s Sebastian Aho last offseason to no avail.
  • The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont writes that head coach Bruce Cassidy is stuck once again with answering the question, ’Who will play alongside David Krejci?’ on the team’s second line. The scribe writes that while Jake Debrusk would seem to be a solid candidate to take that role, training camp could open up the possibilities of moving Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase into those roles where chemistry might not be that big of an issue with time to acclimate with Krejci. That would not be good for Debrusk’s stock as he will be a restricted free agent at the end of the year and finding himself on the third line wouldn’t help is value.

Snapshots: Sharks, Marchenko, Hronek

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Call it the thinnest of silver linings, but the numerous injuries of the San Jose Sharks may actually help the team to make something of their season. In a year in which everything has gone wrong in San Jose, including the season-ending injuries of Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl, the team is now in a position to take on considerable salary due to those absences and reap the rewards of doing so, writes NBC Sports’ Marcus White. The once cap-strapped Sharks now have more than $6MM in salary cap space following the trade of defenseman Brenden Dillon and that number could increase if more deals are made. This could allow for San Jose to land a pick or prospect from a contender lacking in cap flexibility who has been weighed down by a bad contract. Of course, the team would likely be looking for expiring contracts so as not to carry the added cap weight into next season, when they hope to be healthy and competitive once again. Still, there are a number of bad contracts out there that the Sharks could take on, making the most of a deadline in which they otherwise don’t have many valuable pieces to trade away.

  • Former NHL defenseman Alexey Marchenko is eyeing a return to North America and KHL insider Igor Eronko thinks that he has identified the most likely landing spot. Eronko notes that Marchenko’s teammate with CSKA Moscow is Montreal Canadiens’ top defensive prospect Alexander Romanov and the highest likelihood that Romanov could make the jump next year would be if he is joined by a familiar face. Marchenko, who struggled to carve out an NHL role for himself previously, has improved in the KHL and could be a suitable replacement on the Montreal blue line for impending free agents such as Christian Folin or Xavier Ouellet.
  • One of the few bright spots of the Detroit Red Wings’ dismal season has been the continued growth of defenseman Filip Hronek, who has become a dependable all-around defender for the franchise. However, fans can’t even cling to that as a reason to tune in to games for the next few weeks, as the Red Wings have placed Hronek on injured reserve. His injury is not expected to be serious, but the team also lacks any reason to rush him back to action. Long-time depth asset Brian Lashoff has been recalled to take Hronek’s roster spot for the time being.

Brenden Dillon Traded To Washington Capitals

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2:46pm: Ten minutes later, Dillon has been traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2020 second-round pick and a conditional 2021 third-round pick. San Jose has retained 50% of Dillon’s cap hit. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that in the event the Capitals win the Stanley Cup, the 2021 third-round pick will become Arizona’s 2020 third, which the Capitals previously acquired.

2:36pm: Another defenseman on an expiring contract was dealt today in Dylan DeMelo, and his former partner may be next. Brenden Dillon is on the trade market in San Jose, and according to Frank Seravalli of TSN the Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues have shown interest.

David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review Journal tweets that the Sharks are looking for a second-round pick and a prospect for Dillon, though it’s unclear how the return of DeMelo may affect that ask. The Ottawa Senators received just a third-round selection for their own rental, while the New Jersey Devils received a second for Andy Greene.

Dillon, 29, became emotional when he was recently asked about the possibility of a trade and is almost undoubtedly moved by the deadline. He is a physical defenseman that can move the puck well enough to be a contributor on any contender, and has 60 games of playoff experience with the Sharks over the last four seasons. All four of those teams referenced have their eyes not only on the playoffs but a long run once they get there, something that always requires more defensemen than you expect.

Unlike DeMelo however, Dillon comes with a cap hit of $3.27MM which makes him a more complicated move. For many of the contenders pushed right up against the cap they’ll need San Jose to retain some of the salary, only increasing the return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Trade Candidate: Brenden Dillon

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With the trade deadline quickly approaching, we continue to profile players that have a good chance to be dealt by February 24th.

Brenden Dillon isn’t the flashiest of players offensively.  In fact, he has only surpassed five goals in a season once in his career.  However, he’s more of a throwback defenseman, one that protects his own end and plays with a physical edge.  While players like that have been phased out to an extent in recent years, there is still a demand for them when it comes to the playoffs which are often played at a slower pace where the physicality picks up.  Accordingly, the veteran should have no shortage of suitors between now and the trade deadline.

Contract

Dillon is in the final season of a five-year, $16.35MM contract signed back in 2015.  The deal was backloaded as his $3.9MM salary is higher than his $3.27MM AAV.  The contract does not contain any trade protection and he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in July.

2019-20

Overall, it hasn’t been a great year in San Jose and that’s probably putting it lightly.  However, Dillon is one player that has lived up to his expectations.  He has provided the Sharks with his usual style of play.  The 29-year-old leads the team in hits by a considerable margin with 173 while he is actually logging his largest workload in terms of ice time since the 2014-15 season, the one he split between Dallas and San Jose.  With Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson both being erratic at times, Dillon has stepped in as somewhat of a steadying presence while holding down a spot in their top four for most of the year.  While contending teams may not want him to have quite that big of a role, it would certainly be encouraging for them to know that he can step up if injuries were to arise.

Season Stats

57 GP, 1 goal, 13 assists, 14 points, even rating, 83 PIMS, 47 shots, 19:20 TOI, 52.0 CF%

Potential Suitors

It’s not a great market for teams looking for defensemen and Dillon figures to be one of the top ones that ultimately gets moved by the deadline.  Accordingly, there should be several suitors for his services.

In the East, Carolina has been known to be shopping for help on the back end due to Dougie Hamilton’s injury and they have had talks with the Sharks about Dillon already.  However, their preference at this point seems to be someone that is signed beyond this season.  Toronto is also in need of defensive help and with Andreas Johnsson and his $3.4MM headed for LTIR for the rest of the regular season, they now have the cap room available to bring Dillon in for the stretch run.  Florida would like to upgrade their back end but with minimal cap space available, they would need to make a trade to free up some cap room first.  With Columbus playing their way into the playoff picture, they will likely want to shore up their back end (especially with Seth Jones and Ryan Murray on the shelf) and after spending big a year ago, looking at this end of the market would be a safer approach this time around.

Out West, Winnipeg now has some clarity regarding Dustin Byfuglien (who at the very least isn’t expected to play this year) and while Dillon is a left-shot defender (Byfuglien is a righty), they’re at a point where they just need defensive upgrades but after going the rental route the last couple of years, they may be aiming for someone with term now.  Vegas is in a similar situation – they could use some help on the back end but they have shied away from rentals over their first two seasons.  Mark Giordano’s injury in Calgary could have them looking for defensive help, especially if they strike out on adding the top-six forward they’ve been coveting for quite a while now.  The Blues may also be on the market for a short-term Jay Bouwmeester replacement; if he lands on LTIR, the cap space they’d free up is almost identical to Dillon’s cap hit.

Likelihood Of A Trade

The Sharks are well out of playoff contention.  They also have over $27MM tied up in four defenders for next season thanks to the big deals for Karlsson, Burns, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.  Even if they want to keep Dillon around, they can’t really afford to.  Accordingly, unless he’s injured over the next week or so, it almost certain that he will be dealt by the deadline.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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