The Washington Capitals have re-signed Brenden Dillon to a 4 year extension with a $3.9 million AAV. This was only slightly higher than Evolving-Hockey’s projected $3.7 million Cap hit.

This signing became even more important in light of the other news that dropped tonight.

Dillon became yet another in a string of defensemen acquired at the trade deadline by Caps GM Brian MacLellan when he arrived in DC early this year. He quickly became a fan-favorite, after fighting Evgeni Malkin in just his 3rd game in DC. Not only that, but he had an immediate positive impact on the Caps top pairing, which was suffering from a fair amount of instability due to an injury to Kempny, as well as his inconsistent play once he finally returned.

Of course, Dillon has provided much more to the Caps than just punching Penguins. While he was unable to notch any points during his short tenure with DC, his physicality, and all around solid defensive play helped to make up for John Carlson’s serious defensive liabilities.

Keeping in mind that blue is better in the defensive zone version of these heat maps, you can see a drastic improvement to Carlson’s defensive play (particularly in the high danger areas in front of the net) with the arrival of Dillon.

Congrats to Brenden Dillon on the extension!