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Top 3 Non-Core Players the Toronto Maple Leafs Can’t Do Without

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 29: Jason Spezza #19 of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Travis Dermott #23 gets ready to face the Washington Capitals at the Scotiabank Arena on October 29, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 29: Jason Spezza #19 of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Travis Dermott #23 gets ready to face the Washington Capitals at the Scotiabank Arena on October 29, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – FEBRUARY 29: Travis Dermott #23 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates.  (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

#2. Travis Dermott

After Jake Muzzin went down to injury, Dermott was asked to play a bigger role and he unfortunately didn’t perform to his highest capabilities.

That’s not his fault though. Dermott is best suited as the fifth or sixth defenseman on a really good hockey team with potential of being a top-four player.

Rasmus Sandin and Lehtonen are bound to be in the starting defensive-core next year, which means Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, Travis Dermott and Justin Holl will most likely be the top-six defensive group next year.

The Leafs need to re-sign Dermott for two reasons.

  1. There’s no better option with a higher upside in the system right now than Dermott, especially since he’s an RFA and they should be able to get him signed at a decent price.
  2. As a young defenseman with a ton of potential on a good contract, Dermott will be a great trade-chip if they ever wanted to try to acquire another player.

As for number-one, having Dermott on your defensive-core is not going to hurt you. It only starts to hurt you when he’s forced into playing top-line minutes, which he wasn’t ready for yet.

Number-two is where it gets interesting. Hypothetically, let’s say Dermott gets a raise to $3 million per season for three more seasons. Within that contract, Dermott will most likely be underpaid.

Although it’s always best to have a player exceed their contract, it creates a trade-chip which could help the Leafs acquire a key defenseman.

When the Leafs acquired Jake Muzzin, it took a first-round pick and two prospects, but imagine what type of return you could get by shipping Dermott, another forward and maybe a prospect or draft pick? The Leafs may be able to steal another top-two defenseman from a team with a trade package like that.

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