LD Travis Dermott - Erie Otters, OHL (2015, 34th, TOR)

[Stephen]

When the Leafs went crazy trading down in 2015, I was hoping out loud they saw some Duncan Keith type upside in sliding so many picks down to get him, knew something we all didn't or something.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

That 2015 draft looks amazing you get an elite winger in round 1 in Marner,and then you get Dermott who looks like he can be a top 4, if Bracco or Neilson make it the Leafs will have had the best draft of any team that year in terms of making their picks count.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

He's been extremely impressive.
I was one of his biggest fans but even I didnt think he'd step in right away and be this good.
The pass he made to Kapanen on his goal was something.

Everyone who gave the Leafs flak for trading back and not taking Konecny are going to be eating some major crow.

Mayb if Konecy didn't look like he was going to work out but he does, so no one will eat crow

 

[weems]

Mayb if Konecy didn't look like he was going to work out but he does, so no one will eat crow

Workout as what?

a good 2nd line winger?

Dermott looks like a surefire top 4 with easy top pairing upside.

Hes going to be a far more important player.

 

[Tripod]

That 2015 draft looks amazing you get an elite winger in round 1 in Marner,and then you get Dermott who looks like he can be a top 4, if Bracco or Neilson make it the Leafs will have had the best draft of any team that year in terms of making their picks count.

Way too early to say that. Other teams have 2 good picks from that draft already too.

Hanifin and Aho....still has Nic Roy
Provorov and Konecny...still has Sandstrom, Vorobyev, Kase
Barzal and Beauvillier...still has Vande Sompel

Side note: Konecny has 31 points in his last 35 games. Since X-Mas, Konecny is 5th in the league in Even Strength points. Oh...and to think Philippe Myers went undrafted and the Flyers pickup him up too that summer!

But as for the trade, nothing wrong with both teams coming away happy with a trade. It's actually ideal.

 

[Scott Malkinson]

He's the most complete young defenceman Toronto has had in over 30 years.

Dermott is better overall than Morgan Rielly was at his age.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Way too early to say that. Other teams have 2 good picks from that draft already too.

Hanifin and Aho....still has Nic Roy
Provorov and Konecny...still has Sandstrom, Vorobyev, Kase
Barzal and Beauvillier...still has Vande Sompel

Side note: Konecny has 31 points in his last 35 games. Since X-Mas, Konecny is 5th in the league in Even Strength points. Oh...and to think Philippe Myers went undrafted and the Flyers pickup him up too that summer!

But as for the trade, nothing wrong with both teams coming away happy with a trade. It's actually ideal.

100%

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Way too early to say that. Other teams have 2 good picks from that draft already too.

Hanifin and Aho....still has Nic Roy
Provorov and Konecny...still has Sandstrom, Vorobyev, Kase
Barzal and Beauvillier...still has Vande Sompel

Side note: Konecny has 31 points in his last 35 games. Since X-Mas, Konecny is 5th in the league in Even Strength points. Oh...and to think Philippe Myers went undrafted and the Flyers pickup him up too that summer!

But as for the trade, nothing wrong with both teams coming away happy with a trade. It's actually ideal.

It's kind of nice actually. Both teams got the player they wanted and both players have turned out well for them. For the way the Leafs are right now Dermott is far more valuable then a Konecney would be for fairly obvious reasons and for the Flyers they loaded up their prospects on the back end anyways so missing out on Dermott really doesn't matter.

 

[Tripod]

It's kind of nice actually. Both teams got the player they wanted and both players have turned out well for them. For the way the Leafs are right now Dermott is far more valuable then a Konecney would be for fairly obvious reasons and for the Flyers they loaded up their prospects on the back end anyways so missing out on Dermott really doesn't matter.

Yup, I agree.

 

[AppsSyl]

LeafsNation75 posted this on the Leafs forum and I thought it was worth posting here as well. Pretty impressive when you think about it.

 

[Apotheosis]

I'm getting giddy with the talk, but it's hard not to think he can be a true, top tier 1D with his seemingly amazing all around game. Amazing defensively, moves the puck well, good offensive instincts. Just... yeah.

 

[93LEAFS]

LeafsNation75 posted this on the Leafs forum and I thought it was worth posting here as well. Pretty impressive when you think about it.

These are impressive, but over 29 games percentages can skew things. The goalies are making a ridiculous high-percentage of saves behind him, and as much as I would love to, I can't credit him with goalies stopping 96.4% of shots at 5v5.

Now, there are some really promising aspects of his profile so far, that can't be chalked up to riding percentages. He has a score-adjusted CF% of 55.01%, CF% REL of 5.49%, xGF% of 55.43%, and xGF% REL of 6.58%. Now, he does get easier competition than most high-end defenders (just compare his QOC metric to Rielly), but he also plays significant minutes with Polak.

 

[Ovate]

He's the most complete young defenceman Toronto has had in over 30 years.

Dermott is better overall than Morgan Rielly was at his age.

Yes, but I'd say that's more of a function of playing in the Marlies and then playing under Babcock as opposed to going from playing in Junior to playing under Carlyle.

 

[M2Beezy]

Very impressive thats for sure i think would easy breasy go top 20 in a redraft at this point maybe even pushing top 15 and thats one hell of a deep draft too

 

[jfhabs]

When the Leafs went crazy trading down in 2015, I was hoping out loud they saw some Duncan Keith type upside in sliding so many picks down to get him, knew something we all didn't or something.

That's not how it works. If you believe there's a Duncan Keith available you trade up not down

 

[garyturner3]

He's the most complete young defenceman Toronto has had in over 30 years.

Dermott is better overall than Morgan Rielly was at his age.

30 years? I don't know about that. I think that's more of a shiny new toy syndrome point of view and I'm a huge Dermott fan. There's been multiple d-men that looked this good at that age; you just don't always remember them when they don't go on to have long all-star level careers. People thought Kenny Johnsson was a surefire stud. He was the 3rd d-man taken in his draft and got off to a solid start to his career. Not to mention they also had 1st overall talent Bryan Berard on their roster at the same age as Dermott.

 

[Yamazaki]

I remember wanting the leafs to draft him so badly. He never got the attention he deserved playing with McDavid and people thought he was a by product of him but for those of us who watched otters games knew Dermott was a damn good player.

 

[Kelly]

Anyone remember the Stuart Percy comparisons?

I memba

 

[Scott Malkinson]

30 years? I don't know about that. I think that's more of a shiny new toy syndrome point of view and I'm a huge Dermott fan. There's been multiple d-men that looked this good at that age; you just don't always remember them when they don't go on to have long all-star level careers. People thought Kenny Johnsson was a surefire stud. He was the 3rd d-man taken in his draft and got off to a solid start to his career. Not to mention they also had 1st overall talent Bryan Berard on their roster at the same age as Dermott.

I watched Jonsson and Berard.

Dermott is a much better two-way defenceman than either of them were, at this age.

It's really not even close.

The closest comparable is Morgan Rielly. Jonsson and Berard aren't even in the conversation, unless you're looking just at draft position.

 

[Scott Malkinson]

Yes, but I'd say that's more of a function of playing in the Marlies and then playing under Babcock as opposed to going from playing in Junior to playing under Carlyle.

Connor Carrick played for the Marlies and under Babcock. That's not why Dermott is an excellent young defenceman. He's good because of his talent and hockey IQ .

 

[mammothCacti]

Connor Carrick played for the Marlies and under Babcock. That's not why Dermott is an excellent young defenceman. He's good because of his talent and hockey IQ .

And skating, 100% skating. Maybe not straightline Grabner speed but, probably the best elusiveness and edgework on the Leafs and that's saying alot with a guy like Marner on the team.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Anyone remember the Stuart Percy comparisons?

I memba

I remember similar hyperbole to what's happening in this thread

 

[Coaches Coroner]

I remember similar hyperbole to what's happening in this thread

Then your memory isn't great.

 

[lifelonghockeyfan]

I remember similar hyperbole to what's happening in this thread

Of course, the brain trust of "Brian the Brain" Burke drafted Percy. Even the most casual observer of junior hockey knew Percy wasn't an NHLer. Dermot always looked the part of having NHL potential and certainly looked good in the AHL.

 

[Seras]

These are impressive, but over 29 games percentages can skew things. The goalies are making a ridiculous high-percentage of saves behind him, and as much as I would love to, I can't credit him with goalies stopping 96.4% of shots at 5v5.

Now, there are some really promising aspects of his profile so far, that can't be chalked up to riding percentages. He has a score-adjusted CF% of 55.01%, CF% REL of 5.49%, xGF% of 55.43%, and xGF% REL of 6.58%. Now, he does get easier competition than most high-end defenders (just compare his QOC metric to Rielly), but he also plays significant minutes with Polak.

Other than the goalie himself being good, dmen are largely responsible for the quality of shots taken by the opposition