Dillon emotional as trade deadline approaches
SAN JOSE – Brenden Dillon’s name has been out there in trade rumors as much as anyone’s on the Sharks roster over the past several weeks.
Dillon’s played through it all, taking on as much or more responsibility now with the Sharks than he has at any point in his previous five seasons in San Jose.
But there is an emotional component as well, and with the trade deadline coming up in one week, there’s a strong chance that Monday’s Sharks game with the Florida Panthers was Dillon’s last at SAP Center with the team.
“I don’t know, we’ll kind of see what happens.,” an emotional Dillon said after the Sharks’ 5-3 loss. “But, you know, I like being here. Try to play hard every night. It’s kind of out of my control.”
Dillon was credited with three hits and two blocked shots in 19 minutes and 16 seconds of ice time. He is in the last season of a five-year contract he signed with the Sharks in June 2015, and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in July.
Including Monday, Dillon has played 438 games with the Sharks. When Pete Deboer and Bob Boughner arrived in San Jose be
fore the 2015-16 season, Dillon was mainly skating as a third pair defenseman.
But he’s been in the Sharks’ top four group for most of the last two seasons, and he’s averaging 19:22 of ice time per game this year, fourth-most among all Sharks blueliners.
The reality is, though, the Sharks are now 12 points out of a playoff spot with just 23 games left to play. There figures to be significant interest from contending teams leading up to the Feb. 24 deadline in Dillon, who plays a no-nonsense, physical style. He would also easily fit into any team’s locker room, given his off-ice affability.
A solid return in a trade for a player like Dillon could help the Sharks try and get back into contention next season, as general manager Doug Wilson has said is his plan.
“He’s a guy that wears his heart on his sleeve and he’s given a lot to this organization,” Boughner said. “He came a couple games short of winning a Stanley Cup here (in 2016). He’s got a lot of best friends in that room. I’m sure it’s emotional for him. I know it’s been on his mind, weighing on him. I don’t think it had affected his game. I think Dilly’s been a warrior and he gives us everything he has.”
Monday, TSN of Toronto listed Dillon as No. 5 on its ‘trade bait’ board, a list that “seeks to blend a player’s prominence with his likelihood of moving.”
Boughner, himself dealt multiple times prior to the trade deadline in his 10-year NHL career, talked with Dillon recently about the emotions a player faces when they’re in this type of situation.
“It’s tough to go through. He’s got some deep roots here and some great friends, and no one wants to leave that situation,” Boughner said Monday. “But he understands. He’s a smart kid. He knows it’s a business, and he knows it’s a great opportunity as well. It sucks for everybody. We don’t want him to go either.”
“He’s done a great job this year,” Patrick Marleau said of Dillon. “He’s played solid all year. Obviously with all of the rumors that are going on, he’s handled them spectacularly, I think. Just focusing on his game and what he needs to do to be successful and help our team. He’s been doing it all year.”
Other Sharks listed by TSN include Marleau (No. 12), Joe Thornton (No. 13), Barclay Goodrow (No. 16).
n other words, this could be a vastly different group once the Sharks return from the road trip and play their first game back at SAP Center on Feb. 27 against the New Jersey Devils.
“It might be,” weighing on some players minds, Marleau said. “But the guys are putting in the work, putting in the good effort. There’s a good feeling on the bench going into games. It’s not showing, I don’t think.”
Other takeaways from Monday:
Mistakes prove costly: The Panthers took advantage of a couple of miscues by the depleted Sharks, including one that gave them a 2-1 lead at the 11:00 mark of the second period.
Mike Hoffman intercepted a
Brent Burns pass intended for Dillon at the Panthers blue line and scored on a breakaway to give his team the lead for good.
That followed a Sharks giveaway in the first period that later led to a Evgenii Dadonov goal at the 4:52 mark.
The Sharks couldn’t afford those type of mistakes even when everyone was healthy and available.
Now without Erik Karlsson (broken thumb) and Tomas Hertl (torn knee ligaments) for the rest of the season, Logan Couture for at least the next little while as he continues to rehabilitate from a fracture in his ankle, and Evander Kane for one more game as he finishes his three-game suspension, those miscues become especially hurtful.
“We just made a couple real costly mistakes that ended up in the back of our net, and (Florida’s) a pretty opportunistic team,” Boughner said. “They finish, they got some skill. … When we had the momentum, we gave them that one bad chance on the breakaway and it sort of turned the game a little bit.”