Toronto Maple Leafs Looking to Trade a Defenseman

It is true that the Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to trade forward Nick Ritchie as reported by Elliotte Friedman from Sportsnet on Saturday during his 32 thoughts segment. However, he is not the only player they are shopping.

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager (GM) Kyle Dubas is working the phones to try and improve his team.

According to David Pagnotta from thefourthperiod.com, the Toronto Maple Leafs are also looking to trade defenseman Travis Dermott. The 25-year-old recently engaged defenseman has been in trade talks dating back to the 2021 NHL trade deadline. However, instead of trading Dermott, the   Leafs signed him to a two-year contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $1.5 million.
(Salary cap info from: capfriendly.com)

The mobile defenseman has found himself being healthy scratched more times than not lately.   Dermott has four points in 33 games this season. For his career, he has 51 points in 241 games. The best way to describe Dermott would be to say that he does enough to get by, but that is all.

Toronto Maple Leafs Listening To Offers For Travis Dermott

With Dermott being made available, two teams that showed interest in him in the past may still be interested. Those two teams are the New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings.

Both teams have the cap space to acquire Dermott, and both teams also have an extra fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL draft. A mid-round pick is the estimated asking price, seeing as how Toronto currently has no draft picks for rounds three to six.

If Toronto gets a fourth-round pick in return for Dermott, they will have three choices to choose from. A trade with the Red Wings would have Toronto getting either the Colorado Avalanches pick or the Vegas Golden Knights pick. With Detroit not looking like they will be a playoff team this year, they will likely keep their fourth-round pick.

A trade between Toronto and the Rangers would see Kyle Dubas acquiring New York’s pick as they will be a playoff team. New York’s other pick in the fourth round belongs to the Winnipeg Jets, who will not be in the playoffs, so their pick is more valuable to the Rangers.

If the Toronto Maple Leafs are shopping Travis Dermott, he should draw interest from a few teams. He has a low salary cap hit ($1.5 million) this season and next. After next season he will become an RFA, so whichever team acquires him will still own his rights after next season.