DeMelo determined to up the ante

Dylan DeMelo expects more of himself.

The Winnipeg Jets defenceman provided a critical self-assessment on Thursday when asked for his overarching feelings about last season.

To be clear, DeMelo didn’t think he took a massive step backwards but — given the high standard he sets for himself — he wasn’t trying to convince himself that there wasn’t room for improvement either.

“Personally, my game was up and down,” DeMelo said matter-of-factly. “Everybody in here individually had the highest expectations for themselves. I had two, back-to-back career years — and it wasn’t even just the points that was the biggest thing. It was my steadiness.

“At times, I just wasn’t as consistent as I have been in the past with that, for the standard that I want to be at. Not that I had a terrible year where I was awful. But for my standard and how I wanted to up the ante and do better than the year before, I kind of didn’t hit what I wanted to do.”

DeMelo’s level of honesty comes as little surprise, given the level of accountability he’s shown since his arrival in a trade with the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 18 of 2020.

Yet his viewpoint remains refreshing, as it represents the importance of upholding a high standard both individually and for the Jets as a team if they want to take the next steps as an organization.

DeMelo, who signed a four-year extension with the Jets during the summer of 2024, used the off-season for reflection and he came to some important conclusions.

He conceded there was an adjustment period last season both on and off the ice.

“Last year, there was a lot going on for myself and our family. I had a new son in the fold and a family of four instead of a family of three and trying to figure out that dynamic,” said DeMelo. “Last year was a lot of learning on the go and you don’t have a playbook or the magic book on how to deal with that. You deal with it the best you can. The schedule was different with 4 Nations and the volume (of games). Just learning what I need to be the best that I can be. Having the right system at home and taking care of my body and things like that.

“It was a really good learning lesson last year on what you need to do for another crazy year with the Olympics. I took the positives and the negatives out of last year and really tried to put in a good off-season. The biggest thing was to clear the brain and clear the mind.”

DeMelo, 32, had a strong summer of training but didn’t narrow his focus to what he was working on.

“I try to improve everything,” he said. “For me, it’s the steadiness, the consistency. Where I’m really good on breakouts, defending hard, separating the man from the puck, just having that tenacity and bringing that on a daily basis.”

DeMelo conceded that he occasionally got in his own way.

“Trusting my instincts and trusting my skill level. There were some times last year when I was getting in my head a little bit, where I knew that my game wasn’t in the right spot,” he said. “So, you put a little bit more pressure on yourself because you want to play well for the team, you want to play well for the guys and play well for yourself, because you have the highest expectations.”

Jets assistant coach Dean Chynoweth agreed with DeMelo’s view of his season.

“Dylan had some highs and some lows last year, but what I do like is his professionalism about it (as) he doesn’t get too down on himself,” said Chynoweth, who runs the defence. When he is playing well, he is moving pucks, and he is physical in his own end and in front of our net, keeping the game simple for him. He needs to move his feet and when he moves his feet, he is an efficient player.”

DeMelo has worked extremely hard on his craft since breaking into the league with the San Jose Sharks, who chose him in the sixth round (179th overall) of the 2011 NHL draft.

Over the course of his career, he’s gone from a part-time player to a third-pairing guy to someone who is on the top pair with a Norris Trophy candidate in Josh Morrissey.

They’ve grown into a pairing that is routinely facing the toughest matchups and going up against the most skilled players on the opposition.

It’s a role DeMelo and Morrissey relish, but it also means that there’s nowhere to hide when you’re up against that quality of competition and that mistakes are magnified.

“That’s the beauty of it,” said DeMelo. “It drives us. We know that if we do win our matchup more times than not, we put ourselves in a good position to win.

“We’ve done that for large, large stretches of time together, where we’ve been a fantastic D pair. Guys in the D-zone that can shut things down but also contribute offensively. I think we’ve shown that every year we’ve been together. We continue to try and take our individual games and our collective pair to the next level. We want to be the best pair in the league, that’s our goal when we talk to each other.”

DeMelo has been impressed with what he’s seen through the first week and change of training camp.

He sees a hungry group that is motivated to take the next step after capturing the Presidents’ Trophy last season but suffering a heartbreaking Game 6 defeat in the second round to the Dallas Stars.

“It’s just about not resting on our laurels,” said DeMelo. “We’re going to have to put on our work boots every night. We’re going to have a target on our back.

“We’re going to have to be really dialled in with our details and make sure our structure is sound. Focus on the guts of the game, the stuff that really keeps us in every night and gives us a chance to win. The teams that are usually more detailed and really good in their own system are the ones that come out on top.”

DeMelo knows there have been some changes to the group, but also believes that the continuity within the core players can help the Jets get off to another strong start.

“The new guys have been great. I think we do expect them to be big contributors to this group. But a lot of the same guys are back,” said DeMelo. “It’s about everybody having a good year and pushing everybody every day. Training camp has been great so far, with the pace and the intensity. You can just feel that guys are ready to go.”

Part of that fuel comes from the playoff disappointment and from the evaluation process that followed.

“You’re bitter right after it happens, with the season ending the way that it did,” said DeMelo. “When you don’t win the Stanley Cup, you’re always thinking of situations where you could have done better as an individual and as a team. That’s just natural. The end goal is to win the Cup, so when you don’t get there, you analyze and sometimes overanalyze.

“You want to know what happened. I loved our team last year and I think, to this day, that we were the better team through a lot of that series (with the Stars). Just not as clinical as they were. We felt that we were right there.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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