Devils’ Brenden Dillon Set to Play in 900th NHL Game

As the New Jersey Devils get set to take on the Washington Capitals on Saturday night, veteran defenceman — Brenden Dillon — will lace up his skates for his 900th career regular season game in the NHL against one of his former clubs.

Dillon, an undrafted defenceman, kicked off his NHL career in 2011-12 as a 21-year-old with the Dallas Stars. That season, he played just one game but suited up for 48 games in 2012-13 and has since built a reputation as one of the tougher defenceman in the league today.

Now, 14 seasons later and at the age of 34, Dillon is set to suit up in a milestone game and become just the 185th defenceman in NHL history to reach 900 games played. Not bad for an undrafted player. It’s worth noting that he will also be just the 101st NHL player who was undrafted to reach the 900-game milestone and just the 32nd undrafted defenceman to do so.

Over his career, Dillon has made stops with the Stars, the San Jose Sharks, the Washington Capitals, the Winnipeg Jets and, now, the Devils.

Through his first 899 career games, Dillon has 37 goals and 198 points to go along with 869 career penalty minutes. He’s played nearly 17,000 minutes during his rugged career and finished 10th in Calder voting his 2012-13 and a non-offensive defenceman.

While not an ideal stat, Dillon has also been suspended twice over his career, with the latest one coming in February of 2024 — and that was later lifted by the league.

Dillon signed as a free agent with the Devils on July 1, 2024, on a three-year contract that carries and annual average value of $4 million.