Toronto Maple Leafs 2021 Defenseman, Goalie, Management Grades

Travis Dermott

Keeping Holl and Dermott for just a late pick and a B prospect was a pretty suave move by Kyle Dubas, who could save children from burning buildings in his spare time and still not get the respect an Old School Hockey GM gets in this city.

Doesn’t matter.  Let’s talk about Travis Dermott – an extremely underrated NHL defenseman.  Dermott doesn’t score much and he plays on the third pairing so most people probably don’t realize just how effective he is.

Dermott’s 5v5 defense is better than 89% of other defenders.  That is incredible. Sure, it’s just on the 3rd pairing, but someone has to play those minutes and most people do not crush them like Dermott does.

He is still just 24 and the odds are he would be successful in the top four.   He is probably blocked from moving up the lineup, but that doesn’t matter because the Leafs have one of the NHL’s best 3rd line LDs in the NHL.

His contract is dirty cheap and he’s still got room to get better.

He was second on the Leafs blue line with a 56% expected goals rating, and his overall game was better than 80% of NHL defenseman, which would make him elite if he played top four minutes. As it is, he’s just one of the best 3rd pairing defenseman in the league.