Jets offseason defence targets: Brenden Dillon, Jakob Chychrun, more

Dylan DeMelo knew he had a good case to hit the open market.

He knew that scoring 31 points while playing top-pairing minutes alongside Josh Morrissey on the Winnipeg Jets’ top pair had value.

He also knows his own values — and that includes continuing to build his home and grow his family in Winnipeg.

“It’s a rare time in a career where you get a chance to explore free agency,” DeMelo told The Athletic on Wednesday. “With the cap going up and coming off of back-to-back career years, I knew that I wanted to feel like I got my worth and also set up my family. This is the last big one I’m going to get. I’m not going to get another contract like this ever again. And with all that being said, I wanted to do that in Winnipeg. I couldn’t be happier.”

DeMelo and his wife Jessica are expecting their second son this August. DeMelo says his family feels valued in Winnipeg — and that experiences like the Jets’ whiteout are among the best things he’s ever experienced.

“We feel we’re a part of the community in Winnipeg. It just felt right to stay again. We’re also close enough to home that it’s an easy flight for our parents to be part of their grandkids’ life.”

DeMelo’s extension is for four years and his $4.9 million cap hit gives the Jets room to work further down the lineup or to go shopping for upgrades anytime between now and 2028, when DeMelo turns 35. He’s 31 now and is approaching a time in his career when most players start to slow down.

He acknowledges that — although he’s pushing to get better.

“I came into this league as a guy who has really good hockey sense and a good feel for the game,” he said. “My job is to at least maintain my physique and try to keep pushing to get stronger and faster but I think my hockey sense will be my calling card until the day I retire and the day I stop playing.”

To that end, DeMelo has pursued a number of different avenues toward self-improvement, including off-ice work like mental coaching and pilates — a recommendation from former San Jose Sharks teammate Patrick Marleau. DeMelo says it’s helped him with mobility in his groin and hips.

“These are the things you learn as you go. I’m working to be good now and five years from now,” he said. “Joe Thornton always told me this is going to be the best job you ever have — enjoy it and play until they kick you out.”

DeMelo is still delivering first-pairing value alongside Morrissey. He’s the perfect complement for the more offensively minded star, with Morrissey often crediting DeMelo for part of his own growth.

However, does their reunion mean the Jets need to sign a bunch of giants for their second and third pairs?

DeMelo isn’t Winnipeg’s GM but he admits he’s thought about this question before. When Vegas beat the Jets in five games and won the 2023 Stanley Cup, he noticed the size of the Golden Knights’ defencemen — almost all of them 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds or more — and considered their efficacy.

But DeMelo takes a broader view of the question. Florida did have Aaron Ekblad, listed at 6-4, and 6-5 Niko Mikkola in its top four but the other two key defencemen were Gustav Forsling and Brandon Montour — both listed at 6 feet and under 200 pounds. DeMelo points to this year’s Cup champions as proof that quality matters more than any one individual attribute.

“Florida had good structure and guys that played their game really well,” says DeMelo. “I don’t think there’s just one way to win. In this new age of hockey, I think you can be a mix of smaller and bigger guys as long as you’re a good player, you do the right things and do the job just as well.”

So what does Winnipeg need, then? For this, we look beyond DeMelo and at the market for defence — which includes free agent Brenden Dillon.

Let’s start with a look at the Jets defencemen currently under contract. The Jets have approximately $8.7 million in cap space to work with — barring moves, big or small — and the following defence corps:

Logan Stanley and Ville Heinola are restricted free agents. Elias Salomonsson’s entry-level contract has slid twice and has three years left.

Doesn’t it seem as though Winnipeg needs at least one top-four defenceman — two, ideally?

Let’s take a look at the Jets’ options on the trade and free-agent markets.

UFA

Brenden Dillon, LD

Age: 33

Contract projection, via Evolving Hockey: Two years, $2.5 million AAV

Usage: Top four at five-on-five, first-unit PK

Production: 8 goals, 12 assists, 20 points in 77 games

Possession impact, via Hockey Viz: Positive

Jets fans are well acquainted with Dillon’s brand of physicality and decision-making. Dillon has played a second pairing and penalty-killing role for the Jets for three straight seasons. In that role, Dillon was not the only answer to Winnipeg’s defensive woes but a big part of the solution. He excels on a team that plays a consistent, committed structure but won’t create that structure all by himself. I suspect Evolving Hockey’s estimate of his contract is low but they nailed the DeMelo contract so we’ll see.

Age: 34

Contract projection: Four years, $4.8 million AAV

Usage: Top four at five-on-five, first-unit PK

Production: 2 goals, 17 assists, 19 points in 75 games

Possession impact: Positive

Dallas won the Chris Tanev sweepstakes at the trade deadline and he appeared to give the Stars exactly what they needed in the playoffs. Tanev played big minutes against Nathan MacKinnon in a winning effort and against Connor McDavid in something a touch less successful, playing a desperate and competitive brand of hockey. Can he do it again next year, after turning 35 midseason? Could he do it for four more years, as per the Evolving Hockey projection — or longer, if a bidding war turns contract term into a deciding factor? These are the tough questions teams like Winnipeg must ask themselves if they’re shopping in the Tanev aisle. He was exactly what it seemed the Jets were missing against Colorado but his next contract represents no small risk.

Age: 29

Contract projection: Six years, $5.5 million AAV

Usage: Top four at five-on-five, first-unit PK

Production: 3 goals, 10 assists, 13 points in 70 games

Possession impact: Positive

Brett Pesce makes up half of a dominant pairing in Carolina, along with fellow pending UFA Brady Skjei. Pesce’s track record is full of shutdown, stay-at-home success, and he’s capable of playing a hard-gapping game at his own blue line to defend entries before they turn into trouble. Pesce has been connected to New Jersey, among other teams, but the big right-handed defenceman should also be of interest to Winnipeg. Pesce is younger than Dillon and Tanev and offers more hope of living up to a longer-term contract — like the next player on this list.

Age: 29

Contract projection: Five years, $6.1 million AAV

Usage: Top four at five-on-five, first-unit PK

Production: 5 goals, 20 assists, 25 points in 81 games

Possession impact: Positive

Matt Roy is a shutdown defenceman by the eye test and analytics alike. At 29, more of his prime will be covered by his next contract than, say, Tanev’s. Check out this deeper dive by Shayna Goldman and Eric Stephens, in which they refer to Roy as a “no-maintenance” shutdown defenceman. He’s also delivered results at five-on-five and on the PK. If the Kings let him hit the market, the Jets should be among a gaggle of teams with at least some interest in Roy.

Age: 34

Contract projection: One year, $2.4 million AAV

Usage: Top four at five-on-five, first-unit PK

Production: 5 goals, 24 assists, 29 points in 77 games

Possession impact: Neutral

There are a lot of dominoes to fall before a Tyler Myers reunion makes sense for Winnipeg. The big, right-handed defenceman survived top-four minutes in Vancouver this season, although it should be noted that the Canucks relied on Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek, making Myers’ second-pair workload a little bit lighter than that of other players on this list. Vancouver appreciated his physicality and penalty killing during the playoffs and Myers can still move the puck at this stage of his career. The concern as he progresses through his 30s is that Myers isn’t a No. 4 or 5 so much as a veteran right-handed defenceman who can handle himself on the third pair. If the chips fall just right and the Jets need a veteran right-handed defenceman, a contract like Evolving Hockey’s projection would make more sense for Winnipeg than another long-term, big-ticket deal.

If you’re looking for other former Jets on the free-agent market, two of Neal Pionk’s best seasons came alongside Cup winner Dmitry Kulikov, 33, and Derek Forbort, 32. I suspect the Jets might be better served looking toward their future, although Kulikov’s underlying numbers have been surprisingly good in most recent seasons.

Trade targets

Age: 26

Contract: $4.6 million, UFA 2025

Usage: Top four at five-on-five, second-unit PP

Production: 14 goals, 27 assists, 41 points in 82 games

Possession impact: Neutral

Jakob Chychrun has been oft-discussed, coming up one more time in our discussion of Rutger McGroarty trade possibilities. He’s a player that makes more sense for a pending UFA like Nikolaj Ehlers than a 20-year-old prospect like McGroarty, but there’s no denying Chychrun’s appeal. He’s still just 26, carries a thoroughly manageable $4.6 million cap hit and produced offence throughout a healthy, 82-game season. Chychrun doesn’t seem like the safest long-term investment, given that 2025 UFA date, but he could help the Jets at five-on-five and contribute a cannon to the power play.

GO DEEPER

Rutger McGroarty trade destinations: What could the Jets get back?

Age: 30

Contract: $4.875 million, 8-team no-trade clause, UFA 2026

Usage: Top four at five-on-five, first-unit PP, first-unit PK

Production: 11 goals, 51 assists, 62 points in 82 games

Possession impact: Negative

Mike Matheson emerged as Montreal’s go-to power-play option this season, scoring more power-play goals (five) and power-play assists (23) than most of the shutdown defencemen on our list had at all. His career year was about playing twice as many power-play minutes as he had at any point to date, connecting with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and company to produce huge counting stats without dominating the flow of play.

Could Winnipeg appreciate that kind of impact if it meant lightening Morrissey’s workload? Sure, but Morrissey offers power-play quality too, and you’d hardly call that job Winnipeg’s most pressing need.

David Jiricek, RHD

Age: 20

Contract: $1.91 million AAV, RFA 2026

Usage: Third pairing at five-on-five

Production: 1 goal, 9 assists, 10 points in 43 games

Possession impact: Negative

David Jiricek is a big, mobile right-handed defenceman. He has a booming shot. He contributes a ton of offence in the AHL and has put up a respectable number of points for a third-pairing prospect in limited NHL minutes. At 20, there are lots of reasons to think he’ll be a viable top-four defenceman in the future. Scott Wheeler details those reasons here and calls Jiricek the Columbus Blue Jackets’ second-best prospect.

Jiricek expressed frustration with his AHL demotion this year and there’s a chance he could be had by trade — including for McGroarty. We covered that possibility — and that of Winnipeg product, Denton Mateychuk — in our latest McGroarty trade piece.

Age: 27

Contract: $8 million AAV, UFA 2028

Usage: Top four at five-on-five, second-unit PP

Production: 9 goals, 21 assists, 30 points in 51 games

Possession impact: Positive

Thomas Chabot hasn’t grown into a dominant power-play threat like his 55-point sophomore season implied he would. That, plus a lack of fully healthy 82-game seasons, are the most obvious knocks on him. The appeal — and there’s a lot of appeal — comes in the form of Chabot’s ability to control the flow of play at five-on-five. He’s quietly above average in all three zones, helping the Senators defend, kickstarting their transition and then finding ways to contribute in the offensive zone.

He isn’t necessarily available — Senators GM Steve Staois says there’s been no trade discussion — but remains intriguing enough to discuss as a player who could help the Jets. And for fun: Chabot set career highs in even-strength goals (12) and assists (26) back in 2018-19. His partner? None other than DeMelo.

(Top photo: Danny Wild / USA Today)