Toronto Maple Leafs: Dermott Recalled, Marincin Loaned

What took the Toronto Maple Leafs so long?

On the morning of Friday, January 5th, it was announced that the Toronto Maple Leafs called up defenseman Travis Dermott and loaned defenseman Martin Marincin to the Toronto Marlies.

Dermott has seemed to emerge himself as the Maple Leafs’ second best defensive prospect, right after Timothy Liljegren. However, he’s easily the most NHL ready defenseman on the Marlies. He’s put up six points in his last two games with the Marlies to improve to 17 points in 26 games in the AHL.

I feel like a kid on Christmas writing this piece. If you were watching any of their past few games, watching Roman Polak and Martin Marincin on the ice together was quite painful.

Polak was honestly fun to watch towards the end of last season. He emerged as a solid shutdown penalty killer and he could throw the body like nobody else. Unfortunately, a knee injury ended the rest of his 2017 campaign early and since coming back, he hasn’t been the same.

His foot speed is now a tier below anybody else and the only physicality he shows seems to always result in an interference penalty. Marincin, on the other hand, has the size to intimidate opposing players, but plays like he’s 5’6. He never throws the body, his skillset in his own zone is limited and he has no offensive side to the game.

So, naturally, seeing Dermott called up is refreshing, to say the least.

What Can Dermott Do?

Dermott has lots to bring to the table. He’s your ideal two-way defenseman. He can be utilized on both the power-play and penalty kill, and he’s been known to throw the body despite having a somewhat smaller frame. In his prime, he could excel as a top four defenseman for the Maple Leafs.

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The question now, is what will the Leafs do with their defensive core to make room for Dermott?

Leafs’ Defensive Core With Dermott

My ideal choice would obviously be to sit Polak, but I wouldn’t be opposed to Carrick riding the pine in favor of Dermott.

The issue with those two, however, is that they’re both right handed. Head coach Mike Babcock has expressed his preference of having three right handed defensemen and three left handed defensemen, so sitting one of those two players would leave only one right handed defenseman in the lineup, given that Nikita Zaitsev is still injured.

The only other option would be the Leafs sitting young Swede Andreas Borgman in favor of Dermott, who would slide in alongside of Polak. However, Borgman has been a reliable defenseman this year and hasn’t been on the bench since the start of the season when they were experimenting with Calle Rosen. So sitting Borgman seems unlikely. And then of course there’s the option of Dermott riding the pine and being used as a seventh defenseman, which seems even more unlikely based on his age and skillset.

And no, Leafs fans, as much as you all want to see Jake Gardiner benched, he won’t be. Sorry.

If it was up to me, I would see them run a defensive core as follows.

Morgan Rielly – Ron Hainsey
Travis Dermott – Andreas Borgman
Jake Gardiner – Connor Carrick
Roman Polak

This leaves Carrick as the only right-handed defenseman in the lineup, but Borgman has played on the right side before and honestly, I would easily take that over having Polak in the lineup. This would let the Leafs use Hainsey, Dermott, Rielly, and Borgman on the penalty kill, which isn’t ideal but still works.

Next: Not Too Worried About the Bruins

The Leafs host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, so we’ll find out what exactly Babcock’s plan is by then. Happy Friday, Leafs nation.