Travis Dermott Discussion

[Griffin76]

Dermott and Bogosian have been a decent bottom pairing. Dermott seems to even excel when pushed up higher due to injuries though. Only in the last handful of games has he been bad. And he has been bad. I'm a fan of him and I can admit he's been bad. But he's still fairly young and hasn't plateaued or regressed. It's been a few bad games. Holl has been no better but because he was playing great earlier in the season he seems to get a pass.

If I'm deciding in the expansion draft I'm exposing Muzzin, Holl and Kerfoot. And the reason I don't expose Dermott is because he's younger, has room to grow, cheaper, can play both sides and should Muzzin's play drop off or Rielly prices himself out of town then Dermott is going to be needed.

 

[mapleleaf979]

I expose Dermott in the draft. Sandin can replace him easily. I wouldnt have traded Dermott 2 years ago but Ive seen too many poor decisions that he makes over and over. I question his hockey sense at the NHL level. Dermott best trait is his skating, he has no idea how to even use his skating, where to go, when to go etc. He step ups in the neutral zone to make a play and it usually back fires, yet he isnt eliminating that from his game. Dermott overall seems confused with the puck too often, loses his man in coverage, puck watches, has no focus or is overwhelmed with choosing the right decision. I dont see upside with Dermott based on hockey sense. I dont think he will be much more than what he is now, minus cleaning up some errors. Appears to be a 5-6-7 depending on the team. Dermott is the weak link on the D core from my stance.

 

[Stephen]

I expose Dermott in the draft. Sandin can replace him easily. I wouldnt have traded Dermott 2 years ago but Ive seen too many poor decisions that he makes over and over. I question his hockey sense at the NHL level. Dermott best trait is his skating, he has no idea how to even use his skating, where to go, when to go etc. He step ups in the neutral zone to make a play and it usually back fires, yet he isnt eliminating that from his game. Dermott overall seems confused with the puck too often, loses his man in coverage, puck watches, has no focus or is overwhelmed with choosing the right decision. I dont see upside with Dermott based on hockey sense. I dont think he will be much more than what he is now, minus cleaning up some errors. Appears to be a 5-6-7 depending on the team. Dermott is the weak link on the D core from my stance.

He has a lot of the processing flaws and pacing issues that Rielly has, often in a panic, pushing the pace beyond his own comfort level, low panic threshold and very reliant on his innate athleticism. But Rielly is obviously light years ahead of him in all aspects.

 

[6ix]

Dime a dozen player. Not out of place as a bottom pair dman, but the thought of him having top 4 upside is gone at this point. Just hasn’t taken that next step since his rookie season.

 

[TMLAM34]

Dermott hasn’t been bad, but it’s just another spot I wouldn’t mind upgrading on.

 

[mapleleaf979]

He has a lot of the processing flaws and pacing issues that Rielly has, often in a panic, pushing the pace beyond his own comfort level, low panic threshold and very reliant on his innate athleticism. But Rielly is obviously light years ahead of him in all aspects.

Very well said. Its the processing that holds Reilly back exactly like u mention, from being a dominate offensive force, he plays with 4 all stars up front and that skews his point totals. If Reilly didnt have those incredible wheels he has, he be a fringe NHL dman. Reilly on the PP shows no confidence, he is also getting outsmarted by the 2 forwards who cheat and lean to the half wall to close the lanes, Reilly is gun shy from the point and everyone see's it. Im done overall with Dermott now. He has slightly regressed since his rookie year in the NHL from my stance. But from what ive seen, Dermott had his confidence broken by Babcock. Dermott looked very good vs Boston in the playoffs and got no reward. Dermott has great skating ability, some physicality but doesnt know how to use either to his advantage. His decision making shows me often that he was confused, he guesses/panics.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Not trying to derail the thread but what is it that others see with Dermott? I just don't get it. We have other D prospects in the system who project to have a greater impact as a #6D on this team moving forward. Especially if paired with Bogo who quite frankly has carried Dermott's bag all season.

Quoting and moving to the Dermott thread.

Imo it's a no brainer to me to expose Dermott in the upcoming expansion draft. Holl has surpassed him and plays a bigger role on the team, and like you said Sandin and Liljegren are about to kick down the door to be on the roster, hell Dubas essentially said as much about Sandin in a recent interview.

Dubas: Both have already played for the team. In terms of what we expect them to bring, Rasmus was drafted in 2018 in Dallas, and he brings to us tremendous intelligence, ability to make plays, and he continues to improve his ability to defend. He has had injuries to start the season with the Marlies, but he is trending towards returning next week. We would expect him, in the second half of the season, to contribute to the Leafs and be ready to go in the playoffs for us.

That Dermott has stagnated really isn't a point in his favour. He's taken some steps since 18-19, but nothing drastic or anything that demands he be retained at all cost come the expansion draft. Sandin provides excellent puck movement and offensive potential, the latter of which is sorely lacking on our defensive corps, despite the fact that it's been very solid all season.

The biggest thing going for Dermott is his experience. He's going to be at 200 NHL games played by seasons end, and that experience helps with situational reads and decision making, something crucial to a defenseman and something we'll have to be patient with with Sandin and Liljegren. However, their hockey IQ and overall skill with the puck may make up for the lack of games played and could make them just as effective players as Dermott has been.

 

[Mr Hockey]

Dermott is a pretty good 3rd pairing mobile dman with speed that can play with slower/gritty cheap experienced Dmen

 

[Stephen]

Dermott seems like the kind of player a rebuilding team might scoop up for cheap hoping there's some untapped upside that can be harnessed. It's too bad he hasn't taken a developmental jump like Holl has. Really wish we had done the Johnsson and Dermott package for Weegar this past offseason. That would have really solidified this team.

 

[Mats13]

Think we need to upgrade bottom pair LD at the deadline

Dermott has too many brain farts in the short amount of minutes he plays.

 

[Mr Hockey]

Think we need to upgrade bottom pair LD at the deadline

Dermott has too many brain farts in the short amount of minutes he plays.

most 3rd pairing Dman have brain farts, I dont see him as the cause of many goals?

 

[seanlinden]

Dermott seems like the kind of player a rebuilding team might scoop up for cheap hoping there's some untapped upside that can be harnessed. It's too bad he hasn't taken a developmental jump like Holl has. Really wish we had done the Johnsson and Dermott package for Weegar this past offseason. That would have really solidified this team.

Likely a building expansion team.... the challenge is that a lot of teams (even the rebuilding ones) have 3 defencemen at least comparable to Dermott, so he doesn't hold a lot of value until after the expansion draft.

Reality is, Dermott needs a top 4 opportunity to take his game to the next level. He's shown flashes of being able to do it, but never really had the opportunity over a longer period of time. He'll get that in Seattle.

He will probably go along to be a reasonably solid top 4 defenceman in Seattle -- at which point we'll all be kicking ourselves for having let him go; but the reality is, he needs the change of scenery, and doesn't really fit amongst our group.

 

[Menzinger]

Likely a building expansion team.... the challenge is that a lot of teams (even the rebuilding ones) have 3 defencemen at least comparable to Dermott, so he doesn't hold a lot of value until after the expansion draft.

Reality is, Dermott needs a top 4 opportunity to take his game to the next level. He's shown flashes of being able to do it, but never really had the opportunity over a longer period of time. He'll get that in Seattle.

He will probably go along to be a reasonably solid top 4 defenceman in Seattle -- at which point we'll all be kicking ourselves for having let him go; but the reality is, he needs the change of scenery, and doesn't really fit amongst our group.

Funnily enough this is the reason I'm not sure Seattle takes him. Think they may end up nabbing Kerfoot. They'll have a fair number of quality D men to choose from the other teams. Dermott may not interest them if they feel they can't give him icetime right away

 

[seanlinden]

Funnily enough this is the reason I'm not sure Seattle takes him. Think they may end up nabbing Kerfoot. They'll have a fair number of quality D men to choose from the other teams. Dermott may not interest them if they feel they can't give him icetime right away

Yeah that will be interesting to see how it plays out. Most teams will protect 7F and 3D...

Very few (0?) teams have 7 forwards all equal or better than Kerfoot. As defencemen do tend to take longer to develop then forwards, there will likely be a couple of Dermott-comparables available; and at the end of the day, you only have 6 opening night spots to fill.

 

[Stephen]

Funnily enough this is the reason I'm not sure Seattle takes him. Think they may end up nabbing Kerfoot. They'll have a fair number of quality D men to choose from the other teams. Dermott may not interest them if they feel they can't give him icetime right away

Kerfoot actually reminds me of a classic expansion team centerman. Like Brian Bradley in Tampa, Greg Johnson in Nashville, William Karlsson in Vegas before he briefly got good: small and skillsy, versatile with the potential to put some numbers on the board.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Kerfoot actually reminds me of a classic expansion team centerman. Like Brian Bradley in Tampa, Greg Johnson in Nashville, William Karlsson in Vegas before he briefly got good: small and skillsy, versatile with the potential to put some numbers on the board.

He seems like an easy flip, give him some decent wingers and PP time and I'm sure you can push for a deadline 1st for him coming off a 40-50 point pace season with an expiring contract.

 

[Morbo]

I'd be surprised if Dermott is a Leaf next year. he's been just kinda there as a #6 dman for us this year(doesn't play on special teams, and doesn't provide any offence to speak of), and Sandin and Liljegren deserve an opportunity.

 

[ACC1224]

I'd be surprised if Dermott is a Leaf next year. he's been just kinda there as a #6 dman for us this year(doesn't play on special teams, and doesn't provide any offence to speak of), and Sandin and Liljegren deserve an opportunity.

Biggest disappointment on the team for me. I thought he would be cemented in the top 4 by now.

 

[TMLAM34]

I like Dermott, he just hasn’t taken that next step with us. Similar to Brown, I think he’ll do good on whichever team he joins next. I would love to see Dubas add Oleksiak this trade deadline.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

From a lastwordonsports article:

Out of the Leafs’ three pairings, Dermott and Bogosian’s xGA/60 demonstrates their defensive skill. Their 2.16 xGA/60 is lower than both Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl‘s 2.2 and Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie‘s 2.37. Their overall xG percentage is 55.2. While that’s a tad worse than the Muzzin and Rielly pairs, it’s still extremely respectable. And after all, for a combined cap hit of around $1.87 million, how much more can you really expect?

That’s from a article i just read current to today. That pairing has been so really good. The numbers match the look see test. They’ve been good for us

 

[zeke]

From a lastwordonsports article:

Out of the Leafs’ three pairings, Dermott and Bogosian’s xGA/60 demonstrates their defensive skill. Their 2.16 xGA/60 is lower than both Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl‘s 2.2 and Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie‘s 2.37. Their overall xG percentage is 55.2. While that’s a tad worse than the Muzzin and Rielly pairs, it’s still extremely respectable. And after all, for a combined cap hit of around $1.87 million, how much more can you really expect?

That’s from a article i just read current to today. That pairing has been so really good. The numbers match the look see test. They’ve been good for us

Excellent bottom pair - but their slightly better numbers than the top 2 pairs are actually worse relative to the quality of Competition. I.e. the numbers the top 2 pairs are putting up are even more impressive.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Biggest disappointment on the team for me. I thought he would be cemented in the top 4 by now.

Overtaking who though? The top 4 has played as expected, so there hasn't really been an opportunity (short of Muzzin's injury)

 

[sxvnert]

Leafs should be actively looking to upgrade him to a bottom pairing D who Keefe can trust on the PK and at ES.

 

[Hogan86]

Once Holl passed Dermott on the depth chart, I think the writing was on the wall. Dermott is currently our #6 dman, and he plays like it most nights. His skating is great, but his hockey sense is suspect. He tends to panic, and lately is been really obvious. I dont see him in a Leafs jersey after this season.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Sandin's injury set him back, so he hasn't exactly proven to be ready to step into the NHL full time.

I say this because Dermott is still controlled after this season, and likely won't command much of a raise which is important with our limited cap space. He's been good in a third pairing role and will still provide this value next year. Defensive depth is really important so there really isn't a need to move on from him at this point.