2 weeks Ago
In April 2019, Kevin Cheveldayoff and Mark Chipman flew to Duluth, Minnesota to pitch Dylan Samberg on the merits of signing his entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets. Samberg, then 20, had just become a back-to-back NCAA national champion. He was one of the best defencemen in the United States at killing rush attacks and played for Team USA at consecutive World Junior tournaments.
There was a fast-growing perception that Samberg was ready for professional hockey — that Winnipeg had hit a home run with its 2017 second-round pick. Advertisement So Chevelayoff and Chipman flew to Duluth. Samberg’s parents, Mike and Patty, suggested Hermantown’s Outback Steakhouse because it was two miles from the Duluth airport; they wanted to make things convenient for their guests.
Over the course of a steak dinner, Cheveldayoff and Chipman made their pitch. They were pleased with Samberg’s progress, they told him, and believed he could take the next steps in his career if he turned pro. The Manitoba Moose would be glad to have him.
NHL opportunity too, if Samberg earned it. Samberg and his parents thought it over. The NHL was a lifelong dream — and he was willing to work for it in the AHL if he had to — but there was one problem.
“I wanted to go back for another opportunity at a national championship,” Samberg says. “I didn’t feel like I was quite ready to pursue pro hockey yet.” In 2019, Jets fans panicked: Could Samberg reject Winnipeg, play out his college career and leave as a free agent? He did not.
Six years later, as Winnipeg faces the St. Louis Blues in the playoffs for the first time since the steakhouse discussion, Samberg is a key player for the Jets — and the 2025 rematch has been his coming-out party. Samberg has played more five-on-five minutes than any skater in the series.
Include special teams and he’s tied with Josh Morrissey for the minutes lead. He’s been Winnipeg’s top defenceman at breaking up the rush, excelling in heavy usage against the Blues’ star players. It’s been a defensive masterclass.
Dylan Samberg Game 2 pic.twitter.com/LLwxtv53EE — Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) April 22, 2025 Through two games against the Blues, Samberg is playing big minutes against Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou and winning them.
According to data tracked by Garret Hohl , no defenceman has shut down more Blues zone entry attempts than Samberg this series. “The thing we love about him the most is that he defends above our blue line so much because he’s such a good skater,” Scott Arniel said on Tuesday. “He’s running into Thomas, Kyrou, he’s running into Buchnevich.
There’s some real skill coming at him. He does a great job with his stick, but that’s kind of what we’ve been getting from him all year long.” Advertisement Samberg is part throwback workhorse, part modern-day shutdown defenceman.
He has great feet and an excellent stick, as modern shutdown stars do. There are ways in which his game is a great comparable for Hurricanes star Jaccob Slavin. But there are parts of him that are as old-school as the 1999 Neon he drove as a teenager.
He led all Jets with 120 shot blocks this season, despite missing 22 games to a broken foot, and wins his net-front battles on a consistent basis. His outdoorsy Minnesotan upbringing puts him at the heart of Winnipeg’s ice-fishing crew, along with Connor Hellebuyck, Alex Iafallo and Kyle Connor. He listens to country music like Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton and Morgan Wallen.
He once hiked a mile through the snow on a broken foot to go hunting with his dad — while wearing his boot’s felt liner instead of the boot itself, on account of the swelling. When the 2024-25 season began, Samberg told The Athletic he was ready for the next step in his career. He spoke to the increase in quality of competition bumping up from a third pair, which can be sheltered, to the top four, where defencemen play against the other team’s best lines every single night.
He also worked with Arniel on a particular area of his game he wanted to develop. “Even when you make a good play in the defensive zone, it’s not over yet. You’ve got to make that next play,” he said.
“Get it out over the blue line. Get it to one of your forwards. I’m going to work toward that consistency as well.
” I’ve checked in with his defence partner, Neal Pionk, multiple times this season to see what the veteran thought of Samberg’s progress. “For Dylan, I’ve seen it,” Pionk said. “I’ve watched him since he was a squirt hockey player — since he was little, if you’d believe it.
He’s a freak athlete. Some people don’t know that about him. People know about his golf game but any game we play, whatever it is he picks up, he’s usually the best at.
” Advertisement Every player wants to be more consistent. Few have a clear route towards training for it. Samberg’s obsession with golf — more specifically, the way he thinks about golf — is an advantage here.
“You watch Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, they always work on those three-to-five-foot putts,” Samberg explained. “They go to one spot. They make 10 three-footers.
Move back one foot. Make 10 more putts. If they miss, they have to start all over again.
It can be the same thing in hockey. When you’re working on picking the puck off the wall on rims, you can make sure you’re getting it on every single rep — not just four out of five. I try to have that same work ethic.
” In other words, there is a difference between practicing a skill until you can get it right and practicing it until you can’t get it wrong. Samberg’s self-assessment and goal-setting have contributed to his success playing against elite competition on a nightly basis. The speed of playoff hockey puts an extra emphasis in transition, which is harder to see in a series as well-defended as Winnipeg vs.
St. Louis, but every Samberg stick-check that ends a Blues rush means one less shift in the Jets’ defensive zone. It also means one more opportunity to go on the attack, and Winnipeg has outshot the Blues 16-8 with Samberg on the ice.
That’s the best rate among all Jets defencemen in the playoffs. Who could have seen this coming? (Mitch Brown saw it coming at The Athletic years ago .) Each of his clips details a skill that can be seen in Dimitri Filipovic’s highlight video above: Samberg’s gap closure, the angles he chooses, the proactive way he shuts down plays early.
Dylan Samberg's ( #gojetsgo ) one of the top transition D & leads in DZ breakups. 3rd among NCAA D in % of rushes broken up. Offensive metrics (xG/60, xA1/60) are a bit below-average.
NHL-readiness depends on his ability to defend/transition with added the pace — but he's close. https://t.co/jz4x8xygwh pic.
twitter.com/yXcxO3oPFu — Mitchell Brown (@MitchLBrown) August 25, 2020 Samberg didn’t go on to win his third straight national championship, despite being the No. 1 defender in the NCAA.
The COVID-19 pandemic derailed the 2020 Frozen Four. It was a painful outcome but well beyond Samberg’s control; he doesn’t regret the decision he made at Outback Steakhouse six years ago. It does leave him with unfinished business, though.
He’d won back-to-back high school championships prior to back-to-back NCAA championships at UMD — his dad says he was born with a horseshoe in his behind — but no championships since that time. Advertisement When Samberg’s playoffs end, he will receive a new pitch from Cheveldayoff and Chipman, and he’ll have a new decision to make. Will the 26-year-old defenceman, who could become an unrestricted free agent as soon as July 1, 2026, commit to Winnipeg on a long-term deal? A one-two punch of Josh Morrissey and Samberg on left defence would be a formidable start to a defence corps.
Winnipeg’s all-Hermantown pairing of Samberg and Pionk has shown it can beat top competition, including through two Stanley Cup playoff games. It would make sense to me if Samberg files for arbitration and then seeks out a longer-term deal before his hearing. He’s at home in an ice-fishing shack, in a tree stand, on a penalty kill and in Winnipeg as a city.
He shares an agent, a hometown and a lake with his defence partner. For me, the mystery isn’t about Samberg’s commitment to Winnipeg or his bond with his teammates. His wife, Dr.
Destiny Samberg, has begun her dental practice at a clinic on Roblin Avenue. And his mom and dad can drive up to watch him play — as they did for Game 1 against St. Louis — and dine at the local steakhouse of their choice.
.
