Toronto Maple Leafs: Travis Dermott Out Six Months

The regular season may be over, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are still seeing their injured list pile up by the second.

As if a second consecutive Game Seven defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins wasn’t enough to sully the mood of Leafs Nation, the franchise announced earlier this afternoon that Travis Dermott, one of their most promising young defensemen, will undergo shoulder surgery tomorrow.

The recovery time for the procedure has been set at a minimum of six months.

Of course, this is not the type of news anyone wants to hear. A six-month layoff brings Dermott’s 2019-20 debut to roughly November 10th, if all goes according to plan, therein forcing the Maple Leafs to spend the opening month of their season without the services of a player who was expected to assume top-four minutes in the wake of Jake Gardiner’s inevitable departure.

Dermott, not to mention, will now be robbed of an entire summer’s worth of preparation for his new role. As is normally the case with players returning from a significant layoff, his game may take some time to reach its normal potential, perhaps until well after his prolonged debut.

The only bright side with Dermott’s surgery is that it’s definitive. The Maple Leafs know when he is set to go under the knife, along with how long he will be out, and roughly when he’ll return.

What they don’t know, at least at this moment, is who will replace him.

With the glut of left-shot defence currently in the Leafs system, there are more than a few options. Calle Rosen appears to be the top candidate to bridge the gap, given his superb past year in the AHL and promising performance during his brief late-season call-up.

But Rosen is not alone. Rasmus Sandin has been a bonafide revelation on the Marlies as a 19-year-old rookie as well, logging 30 minutes per night and quarterbacking the team’s top power-play unit. Could Sandin be ready to step right into the NHL out of training camp? After just one season in the professional ranks, that remains unclear. But it’s a question that will likely be answered come September nonetheless.

Then there’s Teemu Kivihalme, who the Maple Leafs inked to a one-year ELC yesterday. Making the jump directly from Finland’s Liiga may be an unrealistic expectation for Kivihalme, as he will need to successfully acclimate to the smaller ice surface throughout training camp in order to do so. It took Rosen two seasons to get comfortable. Even if Kivihalme doesn’t take as long to adjust, thrusting him into action right away sure seems like a stretch.

Regardless of who gets the nod, an already interesting offseason for the Maple Leafs just hit overdrive.

Thanks for reading! Who do you think will replace Dermott?