Breaking down Travis Dermott's subtle efficiency
Why Travis Dermott deserves a look in the top four
Travis Dermott is a player I feel has become an undervalued asset for the Toronto Maple Leafs and it’s easy to forget he just turned 24 a few days before Christmas. Dermott first arrived on the scene in the NHL in the middle of the ‘17-18 season and I was a big fan from day one. I wrote that piece on him four games into his career and everything that made me a fan of his at that point still stands today.
There are likely a few reasons that many have cooled on Dermott since then and a lot of it likely stems from a simple lack of opportunity. Dermott has ranked 6th among Leaf defencemen in TOI per game in all three of his NHL seasons. Dermott also doesn’t get powerplay minutes and plays very limited minutes on the penalty kill. It’s difficult to make a huge impact while playing such limited minutes, but I would argue he’s earned more playing time, which I anticipate he will receive in the upcoming shortened season. Dermott’s results in his limited minutes have been encouraging and it’s mostly on the back of his defensive abilities.
Since his arrival in the league, Dermott ranks fourth among regular NHL defenders in expected goals against rate relative to his teammates. Put simply, Dermott suppresses scoring chances against at an elite rate, but he’s done so while being heavily sheltered. Dermott ranks 143rd out of the 167 defencemen who have played over 2000 minutes since ‘17/18 in defensive zone faceoff start percentage and 41st in offensive zone faceoff starts.
Dermott’s quality of teammates (QoT%) also tends to be much better than his quality of competition (QoC%), especially during the ‘19-20 season. That comes mostly from the forwards, though, as opposed to his defence partner as he split time playing with Justin Holl and Tyson Barrie. As an aside, his most common partners in the two years prior were Igor Ozhiganov and Roman Polak. Barrie and Holl are obviously much better options than Ozhiganov or Polak, but Dermott did have to play against some tougher competition with them as Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin recovered from injuries. Dermott and Barrie operated to a tune north of 54% in the on-ice expected goals department while that dropped to just north of 51% with Holl. The caveat here being that Dermott and Barrie got fed offensive zone starts together, for obvious reasons. Another note that feels necessary to point out here is that the two centres Dermott shared the ice with this year were Auston Matthews and John Tavares. This season was the first team he consistently played with elite talent up front, though.
All of the caveats above undoubtedly play in Dermott’s defensive impacts looking so good, but it doesn’t mean his results should be completely disregarded. Dermott consistently does the little things that drive play in the right direction for his team. His biggest strength is his gap control and his aggressive instincts in that area of the game which allows him to shut things down in the neutral zone. Dermott is one of the best in the league at denying zone entries, which is an extremely valuable asset for a defender to possess. It’s also one that often flies under the radar because a defender stopping a play before anything happens doesn’t stick in the mind of most viewers like, say, a shot block does.
Shot blocks are valuable in their own sense, but stopping the opposing team from getting into the offensive zone to take said shot is obviously much more effective. That isn’t to say Dermott is shy in the shot blocking department, just that it’s a last resort situation, which is how you’d like to see all your defencemen treat them.
If you’ve watched any Leafs games at all over the last few seasons, you’ve probably noticed Dermott’s assertiveness in the neutral zone. It’s not flashy, but it’s effective and plays a huge role in suppressing shots and chances against. Dermott’s skating ability really helps him in this department as it gives him the confidence to be aggressive knowing he can often recover when he does get beat.
Every now and then Dermott will lay a hit when he steps up on the puck carrier, which makes it a more memorable event.
Most times, though, Dermott simply gets in the way using either his body or his stick or a combination of the two. He’s always right on top of the puck carrier and doesn’t give them any room to make a controlled play into the zone, often resulting in the Leafs recovering the puck. It’s much less exciting than a big hit, but it’s usually just as effective.
Once you notice it, you’ll notice Dermott plays a tight gap like this all over the ice. He reminds me of a much stronger Jake Gardiner in this sense, in a good way. He’s the kind of player that can really frustrate opposing forwards because he’s always right on top of them giving them no opportunity to make a positive play with the puck. This aggressive style inevitably results in getting beat bad sometimes, but in Dermott’s case the pros far outweigh the cons. Nine times out of ten the result of his aggressiveness keeps the play far from his net and heading back toward the offensive zone.
Dermott is also an extremely good distributor of the puck. When a forward gives Dermott a passing option, he’s very capable of consistently finding him and making that first pass out of the zone.
His vision allows him to make plays while retrieving pucks under pressure and he’s not afraid to take a hit to make a play.
If there is no passing option available to him, Dermott will just take the ice given to him. He’s a pretty strong puck carrier and that, combined with his agility, enables him to bring the puck up ice himself.
When it comes to in zone defence, Dermott’s aggressiveness can backfire at times as he sometimes gets caught chasing into low danger areas rather than keeping his man to the outside. It also helps him in some scenarios when opposing players are expecting him to be more passive, as he can be a smothering presence. He’s not a big guy, but he’s strong and quick which makes him effective in board battles.
From my view, Dermott has succeeded time and time again in crushing the limited minutes that have been afforded to him, which is all you can ask. The next step for him is proving that he can remain effective in a top four role, but that opportunity has to be provided first. It’s past time that the Leafs give him a role higher in the lineup to see what they really have in him. From everything I’ve seen from him I’m pretty confident that he can succeed in tougher minutes, especially considering he’ll be playing with a better partner than he ever has. If it were up to me, Dermott would be joining Rielly, Muzzin and TJ Brodie in the top four at least to begin the year. He’s earned it.
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