You clearly like your D men big, but size isn't everything in today's NHL.
Ville is an extremely talented D-man who had a bad training camp. I'd say there would be every reason to assume he will be ready next year. The only problem with Ville is his size, which will make it harder to fit into our top-4 .
Samberg has not shown nearly the same NHL readiness as Heinola in his time on the Moose. He is big and has skill, but has not stood out in the AHL.
Back to Dillon--he is a $4M dman--3.9 to be exact--which makes him exactly $3M more than his potential replacement, Stanley. That $3M, along with Stastny's $3.75, could make it possible to afford Copp, Dubois and Dubois.
There is a reason Dillon was left unprotected by Washington. Aside from size, hasn't added much to the Jets D in general or to Pink's game in particular. . And at 31 years of age, he is on the far side of the curve.