Travis Dermott has signed a new contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This is fair. Dermott is a reliable third paring defenseman with a potential upside to improve.

Depending on how Toronto does it's protection he could be off to Seattle though.

great, he makes more than league min so now he’s even MORE likely to get dealt for a 3rd in every single leafs acgm

I'm all about that life ....

I’m hoping this means that he’s more attractive to Seattle so they keep both holl and kerfoot, but I still think that Seattle takes kerfoot. Then this probably is for a trade because I think sandin is cemented as the 3rd pairing LD guy, and they’re not paying 1.5M for a scratch. Definitely for a sign and trade.

Don’t get me wrong great signing, but he was supposed to be the guy taken for the expansion, so this has me wondering.

This is actually a really good deal for a young 3rd pairing defenseman. Smart signing by Dubas, but now I'm starting to question if Dermott will get taken in the expansion draft. If he does, they just handed Seattle a good contract.

Still an expansion target. Ok signing. Kid still has a lot to prove.

Good deal, he’s a good 3rd pairing option whether it’s on Toronto, Seattle or other

He’s gonna be great for seattle

unless hes traded before hand

Dubas probs did this to make it easier to move him and negotiations can sometimes hurt a players value as some Gms dont want to go through the burden

Can't he play his off-side too?

yeah. But do you really trust him as Sandin's partner next season.

Not bad

I think it changes Seattles look to

1. Kerfoot
2. Dermott
3. Holl

Kerfoot most likely still gets taken as he showed he can take on a top 6 center role when called upon

I’m not sure… according to cap friendly all leafs that aren’t the big 4 are worth a 6th round pick. Let’s just give Seattle a 5th so they don’t have to deal with our “horrible” players.

I would completely trust him there.

Everybody says he can, but then he sucks when they try it, even when he’s sheltered, so he doesn’t do it anymore. If he actually could play the right side at a decent level then Toronto wouldn’t have had such a major issue with their right side for so many years. He’s a 3rd pair LD who isn’t better than Rielly, Muzzin, or Sandin, and isn’t gonna be taken by Seattle without incentive because of Kerfoot’s availability and the general lack of centres in the expansions draft (not to mention that Kerfoot’s just a better player and is fairly paid). And if they go 7-3-1 he’s not getting selected over Holl, because there are so many 3LD Seattle could select and not nearly as many potential 2RDs (Shatty, Miller, end of list pretty much, Graves/Dunn/Skjei/Gio are some likely LD selections that are all better than Dermott). This is why this signing makes no sense tbh, he’s gonna be their #7 guy, or struggling on his off side as the #6. Unless he does get dealt, but ultimately how much value does a 3LD really have when guys like Kylington, Mete, and Niku go on waivers every year for less money, no acquisition cost, and similar upside.

This should turn off the dermott trades

Unless it's for a trade or expansion draft, this is a bad signing. No cap space for the Leafs to afford that kind of contract.

um what. He played on his right side for an entire season 2 years ago and put up pretty good numbers. His best season was when he played on the right side lul. And comparing Dermott to to guys who are worse aint a good idea. Only Mete is slightly similar. Niku is ahl at best and Kylington is just bad at both ends. Dermott still has top 4 potential none of those guys come even close.

You summed it up. They could have signed Ben Hutton as #7, probably at league minimum.

Dubas only got charged a 10% "Dubas Fee" this time around!

Just because I can

Plan the parade!

I think you’re the only guy that still thinks Dermott can still be a top 4 defenseman. I’m not gonna pretend to fully understand the jfresh chart because I’m not a member of his patreon and haven’t read up on it fully, but is it not saying that his only strength is he’s pretty good defensively for a #7 D, below average offensively, and provides no special teams utility? Seems like a one trick pony you could generally find for league minimum in free agency, especially if you’re a team with the pull that Toronto has. For 1.5mil I’d rather have Hakanpaa for example. Given that they have 3 better LD already, I just really don’t see the need for Dermott at all, especially at this cap hit. It’s minuscule on face value but every penny counts when you’re right up against the cap, seems like they could have found better value for half the price if they were looking for a spare. And if he had an acceptable year on the right side a couple years ago, how come he was passed by Justin Holl, a guy who couldn’t even get into a game a couple years ago? If he can play the right side on the 3rd pair it’s essentially meaningless, he’s not making any sort of impact there, any more than he would on the left side of the 3rd pair or in the press box as the #7.