Minutes after revealing Michal Kempny’s devastating Achilles tendon injury, the Washington Capitals announced they’ve resigned Brenden Dillon to a four-year, $15.6 million contract.
The deal has an average annual value of $3.9 million – a raise of $630k. The defenseman was coming off a five-year, $16.35 million deal ($3.27M AAV) he originally signed with the San Jose Sharks in June 2015.
DILLY STAYING IN THE DISTRICT!! โ๏ธ
The Washington Capitals have signed defenseman Brenden Dillon to a four-year contract with an average annual value of $3.9 million
Full Details: https://t.co/xkTYW4SFYx#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/FT3fIzmXOs
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 6, 2020
Here’s a look at the salary breakdown.
Dillon contract:
Yr1 $3M salary
Yr2 $2M sb and $1.1M salary
Yr3 $2.5M sb and $3M salary
Yr4 $2M sb and $2M salary https://t.co/FTCw6gr4sl— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 6, 2020
Tom Wilson posted the following video to welcome back his teammate.
Dillyโs backkk!! @BDillon04 pic.twitter.com/4whRWdRN6e
— Tom Wilson (@tom_wilso) October 6, 2020
Dillon will likely begin next season on the team’s first or second pairing. The Capitals D corps looks something like this as of this moment.
Dillon – Carlson
Siegenthaler – Orlov
Fehervary – Jensen
Alexeyev – Lewington
The Capitals first landed Dillon during the 2019 trade deadline. Dillon only played ten regular-season games in a Caps uniform, but during that time he quickly became a fan favorite with his physical play and personality.
Also, his dancing.
View this post on Instagram
Check out those moves on Brenden Dillon. ๐บ๐ป๐๐ป #dillydilly (๐ธ @emwitt20)
According to Peter’s season review on Dillon, the defenseman spent most of his time with Norris Trophy finalist John Carlson and seemed to be only a modest improvement for his partner: underwater in goals, but in the black on shot attempts, and fairly dominant in expected goals. Dillon slowed the pace of games and took a lot of penalties too.
Dillon, who turns 30 in mid-November, provides a similar value as Jonas Siegenthaler – a restricted free agent this fall – according to Evolving Hockey. In the below graph, the two players are compared by Z-Score, which shows how a player has performed relative to all other players at the same position over a selected timeframe.
Dillon first revealed that Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan and his agency were talking about a contract extension during a July 14 interview with reporters.
โI think right from getting here weโve had mutual talks amongst my agent and Brian (MacLellan) โ those things are kind of confidential with them,โ Dillon said. โAgain for me as a player and being part of the Caps, itโs been awesome and hopefully, I can be here.โ
He added, โIโm happy with being a Washington Capital from Day 1 when I came here with the trade. They made me feel right at home. I think the system, the way we play from the D-corps on, I feel a big part of things here. I feel even better now and I think myself now, to have a couple weeks of a training camp to get even more acclimated and kind of understanding things, I think itโs going to pay huge dividends.โ
โI talked to his representatives pretty consistently since weโve gotten him,โ MacLellan added on July 31. โWeโll continue to talk and see if we can work something out at the end here.”
Days ago, Dillon confirmed that his representation and the team were continuing to negotiate. “Iโd be happy to be a Capital and if we go all the way (to free agency), weโll have to cross that bridge when we get there.โ
Previously, it was reported that the Capitals were trying to move money to bring Dillon back, but with Kempny’s injury which will likely keep him out most of next season, they had more than enough to pull the trigger.
This calls for a ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐ #ALLCAPS | @BDillon04 pic.twitter.com/x4HeS8w7gj
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 6, 2020
More from the Capitals:
ARLINGTON, Va. โ The Washington Capitals have signed defenseman Brenden Dillon to a four-year contract, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today. Dillonโs contract will carry an average annual value of $3.9 million.
Dillon, 29, a native of New Westminster, B.C., recorded 14 points (1g, 13a) in 69 games with the Capitals and the San Jose Sharks last season. In 10 games with Washington, Dillon ranked third on the team in time on ice per game (20:02) and fifth in penalty kill time per game (2:40). In addition, Dillon ranked fifth on the team in hits (16) and tied for 10th in blocked shots (7). In 59 games with San Jose, the 6โ4โ, 225-pound defenseman recorded 14 points (1g, 13a) and led the Sharks in hits (178) and ranked fourth in blocked shots (67).
Dillon recorded an assist and eight penalty minutes in eight playoff games with the Capitals. Since 2014-15, Dillonโs 68 playoff games with San Jose and Washington are tied for the ninth most in the NHL among defensemen. During the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, Dillon helped lead San Jose to their first ever appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. Dillon averaged 15:09 TOI per game and ranked second on the team with 72 hits. In his 70 career playoff games, Dillon has recorded 10 assists and 81 penalty minutes.
In 598 career games with the Capitals, San Jose and the Dallas Stars, Dillon has collected 114 points (22g, 92a).
Internationally, Dillon appeared in the 2013 World Championship for Team Canada, recording a goal in eight games.
Dillon was originally signed by Dallas as an undrafted free agent on March 1, 2011.
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