Dillon Swayed by Devils' Commitment to Winning | FEATURE

TAKEAWAYS

• Dillon attracted to the team's commitment to winning
• Dillon adds physicality, grit and defensive responsibility
• Dillon knows his role to stick up for his teammates
• Dillon is grateful everyday to be an NHL player

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Defenseman Brenden Dillon hit the free agent market with several teams requesting his services. But out of all of those teams, the one that remained above all others was the New Jersey Devils.

“(With free agency), what did I value and what was I looking for? I’m super, super honored to have the amount of teams reach out and show interest,” Dillon said Tuesday afternoon. “But for me, it kept coming back to the Devils with the amount of skill and the way (general manager) Tom (Fitzgerald) approached the off-season and their commitment to wanting to win.”

The Devils showed their commitment to winning this summer. They acquired goaltender Jacob Markstrom, a bona fide No. 1 goalie, and forward Paul Cotter in trades and signed blueliners Dillon and Brett Pesce and forward Stefan Noesen as free agents to improve the depth and team toughness. Fitzgerald and the Devils are willing to do whatever it takes to win, and that is obvious to all of the players in the dressing room.

“From talking to some of the guys on the team, there is no shortage of commitment to win in the New Jersey Devils organization,” Dillon said. “It starts at the top. Ownership set that tone. Tom Fitzgerald set that tone.”

The Devils have assembled a team stacked with speed and skill in the likes of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton. What the team wanted to upgrade was the club’s overall toughness. And that role is what many of the newest acquisitions, including Dillon, seek to fill.

“We have so much speed and skill and that physicality and compete,” Dillon, 33, said. “I feel I can bring those intangibles to be able to help us win those hockey games. Those tight games, those skilled games. You’re going to need to win all different type of ways.

“I feel like I can be a big piece for us.”

Dillon certainly fits the bill. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound defenseman plays physical, gritty and defensively responsible. The 13-year veteran led Winnipeg in 2023-24 with 241 hits and isn’t afraid to drop the gloves if needed.

“I bring that hard to play against, that below the goal line, front of the net is not going to be an easy place to come to. Being a presence on the ice,” he said. “I just want my teammates to feel like they know that someone has got their back.

“I just want to find the way I can fit into the group and just be Brendan Dillon.”

That doesn’t mean that Dillon is one dimensional. In fact, he set a career high last season with eight goals.

“Last year, I learned how to shoot the puck a little more as opposed to passing to my partner,” he joked. “I’ve continued to work on my game and it’s something I take pride in, every practice, every season.

“Adding to my own personal game. Breakouts. Being able to move the puck offensively.”

And while Dillon continues to grow his overall game, he hasn’t lost sight of his strengths.

“We all affect the game in different ways,” he said. “To sit here and wish I could be Luke Hughes, running the first power play and putting up 50, 60 points a year, of course that would be nice. I know what makes Brendan Dillon the best Brendan Dillon. Compete is a big thing for me. Hard work. I know I need to bring it every night to be the type of player that I can be.”

And Dillon will do it with a smile on his face. He went undrafted and had to earn his way into the league. And after 892 regular-season and 83 playoffs games, Dillon still has a passion and love for the game.

“I’m so fortunate to be a hockey player. You have to pinch yourself that this is what you get to do for a living,” Dillon said. “When you’re walking around the dressing room and skating on the ice with the New Jersey Devil logo on the front of your chest, it’s an honor to be a part of that.”