Welcome back to the fourth edition of the “Jets Nation year in review” series to wrap up the Winnipeg Jets 2025-26 season. This series continues on throughout the month of June as we look at the individual seasons from Jets players throughout the 2025-26 season. I also take a quick look ahead to what their 2026-27 seasons may have in store. Some of the depth players and prospects will be combined in an article later in the series. Tonight, the Jets number one shutdown defenceman, Dylan DeMelo, is the player in the spotlight. Despite a slight dip in production last season, DeMelo continued to do what’s he paid to do the best, which is defend and shutdown the opponents.

Following his 2nd straight season appearing in all 82 games, DeMelo had his 3rd straight season where he suited up in every single Jets regular season game. The 33-year old from London, Ontario was a late round draft pick by the San Jose Sharks back in 2011, and ever since he entered the league he’s been known for his defensive “shutdown” abilities. DeMelo only has 23 goals and 159 assists in 718 career games, but as mentioned, that’s not at all important when you understand DeMelo’s nightly role.

DeMelo’s expectations for the 2025-26 season were about the same as last season. Although DeMelo may not be a typical “top line” defenceman, his chemistry with Josh Morrissey makes him the perfect partner for him on the Jets top defence pairing. Morrissey brings the offensive flair and powerplay skills, while DeMelo sits back and blocks shots and excels in penalty killing situations. DeMelo did spend some time on the second pairing this season when Dylan Samberg was in the lineup, as Scott Arniel tried a more “offensive” combo of Josh Morrissey and Neal Pionk during stretches where the Jets offence was struggling during different stretches of the year.

Fast forward to the end of April, and DeMelo finished with the exact same amount of goals, assists and points as last season. DeMelo played in all 82 games, scoring 3 goals and 16 assists for 19 points. DeMelo had 40 penalty minutes, around his career average, and finished with a +7 +/- rating, a drop from the previous two seasons. DeMelo had a near league best +46 rating in the 2023-24 season, but naturally that rating went down this season due to less wins and positive results for the Jets this season.

One stat that never fails to disappoint is DeMelo’s shot blocking ability. DeMelo had 109 blocked shots this season, continuing his trend of averaging over 100 blocked shots in a season. The over 1 blocked shot a game average comes from being one of the Jets most important penalty killers, as well as the majority of his shifts taking place in the defensive zone. DeMelo averaged 21:27 time on the ice per game, highlighting his importance in a variety of defensive situations throughout a game.

DeMelo’s off-season didn’t start right away, as he got the opportunity to represent Team Canada for the first time in his career at the 2026 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland. DeMelo picked up 2 assists and finished with a +4 rating, playing a very similar style of way that he does with the Jets. Looking at DeMelo’s contract situation, the Jets have DeMelo locked up for the next two seasons at $4.9 million. DeMelo will become an unrestricted free agent at age 35 in 2028, but until then the Jets have an affordable 1st pairing right handed defenceman to pair with their number one defenceman Josh Morrissey.

Despite the Jets lack of depth scoring, DeMelo did what he could to help the Jets throughout the 2025-26 season. DeMelo’s role as the top pairing shutdown defenceman has been solidified by his shot blocking abilities and playing in big minutes including on the penalty kill. You can’t really fully appreciate DeMelo’s full value to this Jets team until you look deeper into his defensive analytics, but those aren’t always the most “exciting” stats to most fans. Going into the 2026-27 season, expect DeMelo to continue to excel at what he does best, locking it down for the Jets in what will hopefully be a bounce back season.

The 2026 NHL Draft will take place at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York on June 26th and June 27th. The Winnipeg Jets will be selecting 8th overall in the first round. Stay tuned for the next edition of the Jets Nation “year in review” series article coming in a few days!

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