The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Jake Muzzin prior to the NHL’s Trade Deadline last season.
Jake Muzzin’s contract expires at the end of this coming season and with the current speculation surrounding a possible Tyson Barrie extension, it’s difficult to see how Muzzin remains a member of the Toronto maple Leafs.
There’s no denying Muzzin’s impact on the Leafs blue line in terms of his defensive play. Muzzin is clearly the best defensive player the Leafs have and was and will remain the key component on their shutdown pairing.
The issue is, if the Toronto Maple Leafs can’t retain his services beyond this season, the cost to acquire a player like Muzzin is extremely high (Grundstrom, Durzi and a first).
Jake Muzzin and the Toronto Maple Leafs
Whilst the Toronto Maple Leafs have a prospect pool full of breakout specialists and smooth skating D-men, they lack the top-4 caliber prospects that need to play with those kinds of players.
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Jake Muzzin has a proven track record of elevating elite puck moving defenceman. When paired with Muzzin in the past two seasons, Drew Doughty was both more productive offensively and had better shot suppression numbers.
Likewise, when joining Toronto, Muzzin was given some minutes early on with Morgan Reilly. Although this was a small sample size, it was once again evident that Muzzin is the ideal partner for players with a skillset similar to Doughty and Reilly.
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Whilst the addition of Tyson Barrie and the prospects of Liljegren and Sandin look very promising. Without players like Muzzin, this team remains fantastic offensively and very worrying defensively.
The Leafs do, however, have a player who draws many similarities to Jake Muzzin yet isn’t considered to be a defensive defenceman by any stretch. That player is Travis Dermott.
Travis Dermott is considered to be a promising 2-way defenceman with great skating ability. When thinking of Dermott, it’s common to consider him to be more of the play driver on a pairing.
However, Dermott draws a number of comparisons to Muzzin. Dermott has fantastic gap control, he’s a very agile skater but certainly doesn’t have elite speed. He also makes the correct decision most of the time, his mistakes lie heavily within his breakout game.
Dermott has been primarily utilized as the skater on the bottom pairing when in fact, he likely belongs on a better pairing playing the more defensive role.
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Travis Dermott’s numbers paired with Morgan Reilly over the past 2 seasons have been almost identical to his minutes without. Considering Dermott’s minutes with Reilly are against much better opposition, this is a huge positive. Whilst it is only a small sample, in Reilly’s minutes paired with Dermott, his shot and goal metrics are both elevated at 5 on 5.
The addition of Tyson Barrie for the coming season could have a massive impact on Travis Dermott specifically.
When Dermott returns from Injury, he should be paired with one of Reilly or Barrie. Dermott is brilliant at breaking up the opposition play and denying controlled entries. Just like Muzzin, if paired with a breakout specialist, he can be a key part of a successful top-4 pairing.
Image Courtesy of CJ Turtoro (Public Tableau)
There isn’t a doubt that Travis Dermott has outperformed his job on the bottom pairing. The addition of Cody Ceci, however, is cause for concern. Unless Mike Babcock plays a $4.5M, big, right shot defenceman on the bottom pairing, it’s unlikely Dermott makes the jump he’s long overdue.
Dermott has shown he can play both the right and left side, both in junior and in the AHL. Muzzin has also shown he can play the right and Reilly has previously spoken about his willingness to play his offside.
Considering the new additions to the coaching staff, hopefully this is the season Babcock plays his best four defenceman in his top 4.