Why the Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Promote Travis Dermott

Currently, the Toronto Maple Leafs only have two defenseman signed past the current season.

Travis Dermott is an RFA so he is primed to stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs, unlike the other UFA players on the team currently.

With that being the case, three of the four current defensemen in the top-4 could potentially find themselves on another team come July 1st, 2020. This makes the presence of figuring out if Dermott can play in a top-4 role vital to the Toronto Maple Leafs success not only to this season but for the future.

There are many reasons why I think Dermott is a top-4 caliber defenseman and to why he is an integral piece of this team moving forward.

Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Play Dermott More

One thing I find most intriguing with Dermott is he has shown the ability and openness to play the right side as a left-handed defenseman. If Sheldon Keefe is open to test out Dermott on the right side and he looks capable, the profound need for a top-4 right-handed defensemen may be erased.

Instead of simply attempting to forebode the future, let’s take a closer look as to why this may be the case.

Dermott is arguably the most effective defensemen on the Leafs at breaking up offensive plays against in the neutral zone

May of the Leafs defensemen tend to struggle to make breakup plays when the opponent is on the rush. Most notably I can think of Rielly, Barrie, and Ceci, who all tend to back off from the incoming player which gives the player space to transition in the offensive zone freely and time to make a play with the puck.

This is the reason Rielly has always had awful defensive numbers throughout his career, despite having the tools to break-up plays, he has never done that on a consistent basis.

To see what I mean, take note of breakups/60, possession entries allowed/60 and possession entry % on this chart from Corey Sznajder and CJ Turtoro .

Travis Dermott is very successful at preventing entries in the defensive zone, whereas Rielly really struggles in this regard.

This is the reason I suspect Rielly has had very weak defensive numbers and Dermott has had excellent defensive numbers. Even when we consider the context, such as teammates, competition along with several other factors this is still the case.

Instead of giving so much time for the attacking player to make a play, Dermott is able to force a dump-in instead of a clean possession zone entry against. What makes this skill so useful is the research states that when the puck is dumped-in, it will lead to roughly half the amount of offense as opposed to a carry-in.

To put numbers to the claim, (2018-2019) Dermott has a 0.232EVD/60 and Rielly has a -0.161EVD/60. This places Dermott as the best on the team currently and Rielly for the worst on the team. Out of 229 defensemen total (2018-2019)(Min TOI-600), Dermott ranks 30th in EVD/60 and Rielly ranks 215th.

EVD-Even-Strength Defense Goals Above Average/Replacement. 

With these results, it is clear to note that Dermott’s ability to force dump-ins plays a major role in preventing goals against.

With the fact, he prevents goals against at a top-pair level even when taking into account several important factors such as competition this calls for more time on ice. This ability is even more valuable to the Toronto Maple Leafs who really struggle with the defensive aspect of the game.

Dermott’s top-4 caliber transition ability

With reference to Dermott limiting possession entries, where he continuously forces dump-ins. When the player dumps the puck in, Dermott is generally the first to the puck and is excellent at getting the puck up the ice to his teammates while fighting off opposing forecheckers.

Dermott is superb at using his size and skating skills to escape incoming forecheckers.

Once Dermott maintains puck possession for himself, he is able to get the puck up to his forwards almost as well as top-pair defensemen, Morgan Rielly. As you can note, Dermott is well above the league average in terms of zone exit data comes.

With Dermott’s ability to transition the puck, along with his ability to break-up offensive rushes against, the team will be able to find themselves in the offensive zone more often than not.

This will be even more important if Dermott finds himself in the top-4, getting more time to play with the elite talent in the top-6 upfront.

Given Dermott’s main flaw is centered around his defensive zone coverage, what is important to consider is the other team will not find themselves in the offensive zone if the defense can break-up the attack at the blueline consistently which we know Dermott can do.

This will lessen the importance of defensive zone coverage and heighten the importance of the offensive powered Leafs to have more time in the offensive zone to score goals.

The bottom line: Travis Dermott deserves more ice time.