Brenden Dillon's words should act as a message to the New Jersey Devils locker room

It’s no secret that last season was a mess for the New Jersey Devils. Even those who have never watched hockey before could tell there was a chemistry issue with the Devils in the middle of the season. There are a few factors that led to this, including an insane schedule due to the Olympic break coming in February, a laundry list of injuries, and a crazy amount of bad luck that ruined the good start. 

After the New Year, this team legitimately had trouble getting through a full 60 minutes. Efforts like the one that led to a 9-0 loss to the New York Islanders or a feckless 4-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs made us all question what was wrong with this team. 

We’re not surprised that the autopsy of the season from those who were closest to the team is not a good prognosis. What’s surprising is how open the players have been about the issues in the locker room.

Veteran defenseman Brenden Dillon has seen a lot in his 1,000 games in the NHL. However, that celebration is why we might be here. If you recall, Dillon was knocked face first during his 1,000th game when Columbus Blue Jackets forward Dmitri Voronov slammed him into the ice. 

That game got messier, with Jonas Siegenthaler fighting Adam Fantilli and getting kicked out. Nobody fought Voronov after that, which was obviously a mistake. 

On Friday, video of Dillon’s appearance on the Donnie and Dhali show for the station CHEK in Victoria, British Columbia, started making the rounds. He was asked about the rumors of Simon Nemec’s trade request, and while he didn’t address that specifically, he did go into detail about the locker room.

"I feel like we had, unfortunately, a lot of those elephants in the room. That is just the reality of, ya know, is this guy upset because this guy has more ice time? I should be playing where this guy is playing, or I wish I was playing with that guy as my winger, (defensive) partner. It's hard enough to win in this league when you're healthy, and when you're just trying to beat the other team, let alone having distractions going on."

Brenden Dillon, Devils defenseman

This was an eye-opening statement from Dillon. It’s even more telling that it came at the end of a long answer. This was something that was clearly on his mind during the entire answer, and he finally “addressed” it at the end.

Dillon’s response comes after we’ve heard similar responses from Nico Hischier, Stefan Noesen, Brett Pesce, and others during and after the season. Clearly, something was off with this team. See Dillon's comments below:

There are a few pivot points one can turn to, but there are two that really seemed to impact this locker room and the culture. First is when Dougie Hamilton was reportedly asked to waive his no-trade clause to go to the San Jose Sharks. It’s one thing to ask him. It’s another for that to get out publicly. 

The other was when the Devils failed to trade for Quinn Hughes. There was a clear shift in the personality and demeanor of this team after the Minnesota Wild acquired the superstar D-man. It might have been problematic to have three superstar brothers on one team, but it takes a good head coach and a great locker room to overcome those egos. 

Based on everything we’ve heard, the Devils didn’t have that. After deciding to keep Keefe for next season, the drama needs to end. Tom Fitzgerald clearly lost the plot, and it ruined the vibes surrounding this team. The good news is that everyone is young enough to get it back. That’s on Sunny Mehta to fix it. 

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