Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Dillon says contract stalemate with Dallas ‘sucks’

BrendenDillonGetty

One of Dallas’ two unsigned RFAs isn’t all that happy with his current situation.

Defenseman Brenden Dillon -- who, along with fellow restricted free agent Cody Eakin is currently MIA from Stars training camp -- told the Vancouver Sun his set of circumstances “sucks” while skating with the WHL Giants.

More, from the Sun:

“You can kind of look around the league at guys who are strong, kind of two-way bigger defencemen — (Dillon is listed at 6-3 and 225) — who can skate and move the puck, and that’s what I feel I am… a guy who can be a top-four defenceman, a guy who can play minutes, play against other teams’ big players.

“You see other guys and you know there is a market for things and that’s what I’m starting to learn. You grow up playing hockey and you’re thinking ‘oh, I just want to play the game, it’s so much fun.’ Then you realize it is your job.”

Dillon, 23, has been a vital contributor in Dallas over the last two seasons. He broke onto the scene during the lockout-shortened ’13 campaign, averaging over 21 minutes while appearing in all 48 games, finishing 10th in Calder voting. Last year, the British Columbia native scored 17 points in 80 games -- which included a career-high six goals -- leading all Stars in hits (168) while finishing second in blocked shots (149).

Dillon’s three-year, entry level deal paid $900,000 annually, but it sounds as though a tidy raise could be in the cards. He’s a bit of a tricky case in terms of comparables given he wasn’t drafted, had his rookie year age at 22 and only has 129 games on his resume (another 1990-born defenseman, Zach Bogosian, has 352), but it’s possible Dillon could use the contractual template Detroit established with Danny DeKeyser.

Dillon and DeKeyser have a few things in common: both born in ’90, both undrafted and both blossomed into talented rearguards. DeKeyser, though, managed to get his new deal done before the start of Detroit’s training camp -- a two-year, $4.375 million deal that pays $2.187M annually.

Dillon wasn’t talking dollar figures this week, but remained confident a deal will get done.

“It’s that time of year when I should be down there [in Dallas] and I want to be down there,” he explained. “It is what it is and this is the part of the game that I can’t really control and that’s why, as players you have to trust in your agent.

“Hopefully things are going to get closer and closer and then eventually get done.”