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Travis Dermott Must Earn a Long-Term Deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs

By James Reeve

TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 29: Travis Dermott #23 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck against the Vancouver Canucks during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on February 29, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canucks 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 29: Travis Dermott #23 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck against the Vancouver Canucks during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on February 29, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canucks 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Travis Dermott needs a new contract this off-season but the Toronto Maple Leafs might be better served giving him a bridge deal to see what they really have.

The Toronto Maple Leafs need to make a decision on restricted free agent defenseman Travis Dermott, who will be entering his fourth season in the league in 2020/21.

When Dermott first broke into the NHL, it looked as if he could be a legitimate Top-Four defenseman for the Leafs, a ready-made answer to years of defensive struggles after being selected in the second round (34th overall) of the 2015 Draft.

While Dermott has been good, this past years has shown the Newmarket, Ontario native have some lapses and demonstrate glaring weaknesses in his game that the team would have hoped would’ve been worked on over the course of the past three years. Still, the stats are quite good. 

Dermott’s Place on the Toronto Maple Leafs

During the 2019/20 season, Dermott averaged the sixth-highest amount of time on the ice among Toronto Maple Leafs defensemen at 17:19 – a clear indication that he has primarily been limited to a bottom-pairing role. (Stats via Hockey Reference)

With the Leafs signing Mikko Lehtonen, viewed as the best defenseman in the KHL last season, and Rasmus Sandin making great strides in his development and likely to push for more minutes this time around, the left side of defense is getting very crowded. Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin are guarantees, with the battle really now for the bottom-pairing on the left side, making Dermott’s contract demands an interesting situation for both parties.  Dermott has not shown enough to earn a huge pay rise and so far, may not even beat out a couple of other guys this year, making a long-term investment from the Leafs an unusual move.

It may be better business for the Toronto Maple Leafs to offer Dermott a two-year ‘prove it’ contract that sees him earn more than he’s currently on, but also guards against being stuck with a player that could be moved for assets because he’s still young. There is also a large chance that he is used as a trade chip.

If Dermott can transition over to the right side of defense more consistently, a position he has played at times throughout his time in the NHL, then he could make an argument that he can fill a need that the Leafs are desperately trying to address.

But too many ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’ are not worth paying over the top for, especially when cap space is a valuable commodity, especially over the next couple of years with a flat cap, but keeping Dermott around to see if he can take the next step and claim more minutes this year is something worth doing for the organization.

He is a former high draft pick, he is still young, turning 24 in December, but he is playing a position the Leafs actually have a lot of depth at moving into the new season, so will need to work even harder to prove that he belongs.

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If he can’t agree on a short-term deal with the team, who will undoubtedly extend him a qualifying offer in the meantime, and is expecting too much out of his next contract, it could be the end of the road for Dermott in Toronto and general manager Kyle Dubas may need to find a willing trade partner in order to get value for him rather than allowing his rights to expire.

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