Dylan Samberg would have liked a longer contract with the Winnipeg Jets, but he’s still got a good runway to keep discovering some of the city’s culinary delights.
“I’ve definitely found there are a lot of good hole-in-the-wall restaurants around Winnipeg, especially Italian restaurants,” the Minnesota native said Thursday afternoon on a virtual press conference. “It reminds me a lot of home; just less trees up there.”
Samberg can certainly afford to nosh at his favourite places after inking a new three-year, $17.25-million pact with the Jets on Wednesday. In a perfect world, the deal might have included more years, like the six-year contracts the squad signed with Gabe Vilardi and Neal Pionk in the past weeks and months.
Still, with an arbitration hearing slated for the day that Samberg — who was a restricted free agent — and the Jets put pen to paper, the 26-year-old defenceman is still pleased with how things played out.
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“You always want to have longer term, everyone wants that,” the 2017 second-round pick said. “But sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way, both sides just can’t agree. With the three years, I still have some time [to keep proving myself]. I’m excited to do it in Winnipeg for three more years and hopefully [more after that.]”
Samberg took on a bigger role with the Jets this past year, partnering with Pionk on the team’s second pair. For the first two full years of his career, the six-foot-four bruiser never exceeded 16 minutes per night. This past season, that number grew to 21:08.
“I feel like each year that goes by, I become more and more confident,” he said. “This last year, with moving up to that second pair, logging more minutes, playing against tougher competition, I was happy with how I handled it and I’m excited for next year. I want to continue to grow on that second pair.”
Samberg called it “awesome” playing beside Pionk and he’s also excited about another guy who recently inked a deal with the Jets, Winnipeg native Jonathan Toews.
“One of those guys I grew up watching,” Samberg said. “It’s very cool and I’m excited to meet him. This is a good thing for him, and I think he’s excited to get back home.”
Toews, of course, is joining a team that won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2024-25 with a league-best 116 points. Samberg said he can’t wait for training camp, where Winnipeg will begin the process of trying to build on a year that saw the club defeat the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the playoffs before falling to the Dallas Stars.
“I think we have a really good group and a really good chance at making something special,” he said. “I think we proved that last year during the regular season, and getting past that first round was a huge stepping stone for us.”
One of the Jets’ most important players, Kyle Connor, is also eligible to negotiate a new deal with the team as he enters the final year of his current contract. If Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff can knock that one out, he’ll probably feel pretty good — on balance — about how the off-season has gone, even with the departure of Nikolaj Ehlers as a free agent. While Samberg and the Jets couldn’t quite make it work on a long-term deal the way Vilardi and Pionk did, it’s clear Samberg is happy with the situation, a feeling he believes extends around the dressing room.
“It shows guys want to stay here,” he said of the commitments his teammates have made. “With that group we had last year, we’re very close, very tight-knit. We had a fun year, it’s always fun when you’re winning. Guys who sign those longer-term deals, they want to be around here, they want to be around this group and this organization. We’re treated very well and everyone loves it up there.”
