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Brenden Dillon hopes to re-sign with Washington but if not would love to play for his hometown Canucks

By Ian Oland

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October 3, 2020 11:23 pm

Brenden Dillon did an interview with TSN 1040 on Friday and gave some insight about his negotiations with the Washington Capitals.

The Capitals are trying to re-sign the 29-year-old defenseman before the start of free agency and may move a player to do so, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

“We’ve definitely had some conversations over the last couple days that have progressed,” Dillon said. “I was very, very appreciative of my time there with Washington. I think from what I do as a player to the skill level of the team and having an opportunity to win, it ticks a lot of boxes when you look at it as a free agent. There are seven more days where hopefully we can get something done. If we do, I’d be happy to be a Capital and if we go all the way (to free agency), we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there.”

If things don’t work out, Dillon named one team he’d definitely be willing to sign with.

“Any Surrey hometown kid that grew up watching the Canucks would love to play for the Canucks,” Dillon said. “I think from an organization standpoint, to the players that you talk to that have played for the Canucks, to the fanbase, to the arena, it’s obviously got to be a great place to play and would definitely be a place that I’d be interested in.”

Dillon, who spent four seasons playing junior hockey for the nearby Seattle Thunderbirds before making his jump to the NHL, also revealed to hosts Bob Marjanovich and Rick Dhaliwa that he “had the Pavel Bure posters on my wall” and was a “big Roberto Luongo fan” growing up.

As for what players can command on the open market, Dillon believes that many players will be taking a hit due to a flat salary cap that may remain static for the next three years.

“If you’re a guy that was supposed to be making $2 million, you might be in the $1.5 range now,” Dillon said. “If you were a guy supposed to be making $10 million, now you’d be in the $7 to $8 million (range). But I think you see from all aspects of the free-agent market from the Pietrangelos to the guys just coming off their entry-level deals just to be qualified in general, it’s going to be a very unique offseason. You can try to do your best to predict how things are going to play out. Ultimately, I know for myself and my situation, you let the marketplace dictate itself. I think guys are going to have to be open, whether it’s term or dollar amount and just seeing what is available. As things ramp up here towards the draft and towards October 9, there’s going to be more activity from trades to rumors to negotiations.”

During the interview, Dillon also stressed how crazy his whirlwind season was.

“I know 2020’s been crazy for everybody, but getting traded cross-country to a different conference, a new group of teammates — that I’ll be honest, I didn’t know anybody,” he said.

Dillon was grateful for how he was welcomed to the team “from Oshie to Ovi to Tom Wilson to John Carlson.” He added, “For me personally, I thought it was a great fit and had fun being there and we’ll see what happens.”