Regular Season:
Playoffs:
Key Stat: Brenden Dillon led the league in minor penalties this season with 32, and tied Evander Kane for most total penalties with 38. He also only drew 17 penalties, so he does not do much to offset his time in the box like other Capitals; for example, Tom Wilson took 35 total penalties but he also drew 30 of them.
The Good: The Capitals made an unexpected splash at the deadline in acquiring Dillon, and he brought exactly what they needed in his brief stint as a Cap. He was an excellent defensive partner for John Carlson, balancing out Carlson’s penchant for jumping into the offensive plays by hanging back and being more of a stay-at-home defenseman.
One of the risks of a trade deadline acquisition, particularly highly-touted players like Dillon, is them taking too long to gel with the rest of the team and adjust to their new organization. That did not seem to be a problem for Dillon; he dove headfirst into his new team and quickly endeared himself to both players and fans.
The Bad: In his ten games with Washington after the trade deadline, he averaged 2.1 PIM per game. For a team that already struggled with discipline, this certainly did not help.
A big downside of the season pausing in mid-March was only being able to watch Brenden Dillon play ten regular season games with the Caps. He was shaping up to be a really great fit both on the ice and in the locker room, but that adjustment period was suddenly cut short. Combine that with the lengthy season pause’s effect on hockey as a whole, and we may never truly know just how well Dillon would have fit into the Caps’ system.
The Video: Remember when Dillon officially became a Washington Capital after throwing punches with Evgeni Malkin? Good times, good times.
The Charts:
The Discussion: Dillon hits UFA status this offseason, so he’ll need a new contract to stay in Washington – is re-signing him worth it for the Capitals? What, if anything, do you think he has to offer the Caps that we haven’t seen already? What would it take for you to give Dillon a 10 next season?
Other Dillon Season Reviews: Coming soon!
The Vote: Rate Dillon below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.