Toronto Maple Leafs: Dermott and Gauthier Loaned Back to the Marlies

You knew it was coming.

After playing Frederik Gauthier a paltry 6 minutes on Wednesday night, and straight up scratching Travis Dermott, the Toronto Maple Leafs have loaned the pair back to the Marlies.

As stated in the above tweet, there is logic to this move. The Leafs are currently enjoying their desperately needed “bye week”, and don’t resume playing for another six days. Clearly, they want to have their young call-ups to experience tangible game action, and the only way to do that is to send them down.

The Marlies are scheduled to play two games, both against the Charlotte Checkers, between now and the bye week’s end. So, if Lou abides by his word, both players will participate in those two contests, and then be called up in time for the Leafs to play St. Louis.

And yet, in Dermott’s case, I’m sceptical as to whether that actually happens.

Hey Now, You’re an All-Star

As I’ve previously noted, Dermott is one of three Marlies selected to the AHL All-Star Classic. And based on his performance this season, he’s certainly earned it.

The hitch in the giddy-up here is that All-Star weekend takes place from January 28th-29th. So, after some intense number crunching, I was able to determine that those dates occur after the Leafs will have supposedly called Dermott up.

This begs the question; what are the Leafs planning to do with him?

If Dermott were playing regular NHL minutes, it would make total sense for him to miss a meaningless All-Star contest. Only, that’s not the case here. Mere days ago, Mike Babcock announced that Dermott would occupy a rotational role with Connor Carrick and Andreas Borgman.

Would the Leafs really force their bright young star to miss his first All-Star game just so he can warm a seat in the press box for 1/3 of their games?

In the days between now and the All-Star game, the Leafs play a total of 6 games. And, if Babcock is indeed serious about this ridiculous rotation, Dermott will suit up for four of them, at most.

Is that really what’s best for his development?

What’s the Plan?

In the midst of the confusion, there exists a silver lining.

The Leafs do, in fact, have both the 28th and 29th off, not playing again until the 31st when they take on the Islanders. In that case, they could easily send Dermott down, letting him participate in the All-Star festivities, only to recall him prior to their game in New York.

Although, that seemingly goes against the organization’s plan for Dermott.

It’s been speculated that, despite his stellar performance, the Leafs waited this long to call him up in order to avoid shuttling him back and forth between leagues. If they do indeed follow through with the aforementioned plan, Dermott will have gone from AHL to NHL and back a total of five times between January 6th-31st.

I hold serious doubts as to whether the Leafs will feel comfortable doing that. Not to mention, that kind of movement certainly isn’t conducive to the success of a young player trying to develop a rhythm.

Next: How Three Former Leafs Went From the NHL to the Olympics

Needless to say, all eyes will be on Lamoriello & Co once the bye week wraps up.