Brenden Dillon Hits 1,000 NHL Games the Hard Way - And Wouldn’t Change a Thing
Brenden Dillon didn’t take the typical route to the NHL. He wasn’t a top prospect.
He wasn’t drafted in junior, and he wasn’t drafted in the NHL. But on Monday night, as the Devils hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets, the 35-year-old defenseman skated in his 1,000th NHL game - a milestone that speaks volumes about perseverance, grit, and the belief that work ethic can still beat pedigree.
“I just wanted to get one,” Dillon said earlier in the day. One game.
That was the dream. Now he’s hit four digits - and counting.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t just a feel-good story. This is a blueprint for how to carve out a career in the toughest league in the world when the odds are stacked against you.
Dillon didn’t have the size, speed, or flash that turns heads at 16 or 17. He admits it himself - he wasn’t the best player on his teams growing up.
But what he lacked in natural gifts, he made up for in sheer will.
“We all wanted to be Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes running power plays,” Dillon said. “But I had to figure out what was going to be my path if I wanted to make it to the next level.”
That path wasn’t glamorous. It was rugged.
Undrafted in his WHL draft year. Undrafted in the NHL.
And when that second snub came, it hit hard.
“I still remember the day,” he said. “I thought my life and my world was over.”
But that moment - the kind that breaks a lot of young players - became fuel. Dillon wasn’t going to let it define him.
He returned to Seattle in the WHL and got to work. Under head coach Rob Sumner and assistant coach Turner Stevenson, he reshaped his game.
He started hitting more. Dropped the gloves when he had to.
Turned himself into the kind of player who could be trusted in tough minutes.
It worked.
Dallas took notice and signed him as a free agent. He spent some time in the AHL with the Texas Stars - just 10 games to close out the 2010-11 season - and then played a full year in the minors.
Then came the call-up. April 7, 2012, against the St.
Louis Blues. One game.
The one he dreamed of.
But Dillon wasn’t satisfied.
“You don’t just want to get there, you want to stay there,” he said. That mindset stuck with him.
He wanted more - a second game, a third, a playoff run. He wanted to prove he belonged.
By the 2013-14 season, he wasn’t just surviving. He was thriving.
Dillon played 80 games for Dallas that year and never looked back. Over the next 14 years, he became the kind of player every team needs - a stay-at-home defenseman who brings physicality, leadership, and a team-first mentality.
From Dallas to San Jose, then Washington, Winnipeg, and now New Jersey, Dillon has been a steady presence on the blue line.
Through 1,000 games, he’s racked up 42 goals, 179 assists, 221 points, 942 penalty minutes, and a plus-70 rating. But those numbers only tell part of the story.
“I’d like to think I earned everything,” he said. “I had to play better than the first-round pick. I had to play better than the guy that tried to earn my spot.”
And he did. Year after year.
Camp after camp. Practice after practice.
Dillon’s career is the product of thousands of unseen hours - the offseason workouts, the 30-minute stretch sessions that sometimes get sacrificed for bedtime routines with his kids. The grind never stopped.
“I take a lot of pride in that stuff too and taking care of myself away from the rink,” he said. “It’s hard. Then you throw a couple kids into the mix and that extra 30-minute stretch session you want to get into is an extra 30 minutes of bedtime routine for them.”
Through it all, Dillon has stayed grounded. He knows this milestone isn’t just his - it belongs to everyone who helped him along the way.
“We’d be here all day if I listed every name,” he said. From minor hockey in Surrey to billet families in junior, to coaches in the pros - it’s been a team effort. And Dillon doesn’t take any of it for granted.
“The biggest thing I tell all kids is don’t ever take a day for granted,” he said. “I love coming to the rink.
Guys have been so amazing everywhere I’ve played. I’ve had just as much fun hooting and hollering and practicing, the grind of the travel and getting in late.
I wouldn’t change it for anything. I love being a hockey player every day.”
Hockey gave Brenden Dillon everything. And in return, he gave it everything he had.
One game was the dream. A thousand is the legacy.