Insider Believes There Is No Cause For Concern Despite Jets' Pending RFA Defenseman Changing Agents

Dylan Samberg is a pending RFA and has switched agents but Sportsnet's insider Elliotte Friedman believes there is no cause for concern.

The 26-year-old defenseman was a second-round pick (43rd overall) by the Jets in the 2017 NHL draft and has played 184 games with the club. He signed a two-year deal on July. 5, 2023 that is set to expire at the end of the season.

Recently, Samberg left his former agent, Daniel Plante, and is now with Pete Rutili of Wasserman Hockey. When news breaks that a pending free agent is switching agents, the initial reaction is that the player could be looking for a change of scenery. Thankfully for the Jets, Friedman believes there is nothing to worry about.

"Dylan Samberg for example, he’s an RFA for this year and then he’s a UFA, so they’re going to want to sign him for as long as they can," said Friedman on his podcast, 32 Thoughts. "I heard that he just changed agents. He’s now being represented by a gentleman named Pete Rutili who works at Wasserman. Whenever I hear that a player is changing their agent right before a contract negation, 'I’m like oh no, that's not good' but even I heard in this particular case that it’s nothing like that. It’s not because he’s unhappy, he’s in a good place."

Friedman is confident the Jets will get something done with Samberg due to the Jets current positive state. They have Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck locked up long-term and have buy-in from a lot of players. Friedman confirmed earlier reports that the Jets have not begun any contract negations with any of their pending free agents but believes the Jets, like many other teams around the NHL, will use the 4 Nations Face-Off to begin those talks.

Nikolaj Ehlers is likely the Jets' top priority but Samberg is up on the list, if not right beside Ehlers. He's become a dependable defensive defenseman who is continuing to increase the trust he's receiving from the Jets' coaching staff and front office. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is known for being very secretive during negations but even he would say that Samberg is a definite priority.

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