Winnipeg Jets Re-Sign Dylan DeMelo
The Winnipeg Jets gave their blueline some long overdue stability by re-signing trade deadline acquisition Dylan DeMelo to a four-year deal.
Photo Credit: @NHLJets (Twitter)
With free agency opening up soon, teams are starting to work out last minute deals with their pending UFAs. The Winnipeg Jets locked up a key one early on Wednesday, October 7.
At the trade deadline, the Jets traded for Ottawa Senators defenseman Dylan DeMelo. In a smaller sample size than anticipated thanks to the pandemic, DeMelo was a perfect fit in Winnipeg. He suppresses shot attempts against and, most importantly, he doesn’t mind long bus rides because Winnipeg doesn’t have an airport.
The deal is a four-year deal with a $3 million annual cap hit.
During the 2019-20 season, in 59 games split between the Jets and the Ottawa Senators, he had 10 points. On paper, that’s not impressive. But most of what DeMelo does well isn’t going to show up on the scoresheet.
In each of his six NHL seasons, his team has allowed fewer expected goals, shot attempts, and scoring chances at 5v5 with him on the ice than they did without him on the ice. In five of those seasons, they also allowed fewer high-danger chances at 5v5 with him on the ice.
Despite not picking up many points, DeMelo is a surprising play driver on offense as well.
A lot of words have been written about how offensively atrocious the Jets defense was last season. Forget the Vezina Trophy, Connor Hellebuyck should have won the Hart Trophy because without him masking their flaws, the Jets likely would have been a bottom five team. Maybe even bottom three.
I’m not here to add to those words, but let’s look at some numbers from last season. All of these stats are at 5v5 and are courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.
Shots against: 31.96 (26th)
Expected goals against: 2.58 (29th)
Scoring chances against: 27.9 (24th)
High-danger chances against: 12.89 (30th)
DeMelo’s going to help make those numbers better. He’s also going to help the Jets in transition. That was another problem with the Jets blueline last season.
Overall, signing DeMelo is a huge gain for the Jets. And he comes at a relatively inexpensive price. A $3 million cap hit is a great bargain for someone who can be as impactful as DeMelo.