Dermott a short-term bargain
Defenceman should be in a better position to negotiate next year
Travis Dermott took one for the team.
That was the general reaction Friday after the restricted freeagent defenceman re-signed with the Maple Leafs for one year at $874,125 (U.S.).
Dermott’s contract makes him the lowest-paid defenceman among eight currently listed on the Leafs’ NHL roster. No one knows what the final 23-man roster will look like on opening night, but Dermott, not yet eligible for arbitration, will have to fit under the salary cap to stay and the Leafs don’t have much room.
For now, they are $1.04 million over the $81.5-million (U.S.) cap, which is allowed in the off-season but not once the season starts.
Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas foreshadowed his approach to making up the difference when he said recently that the team might carry just 21 players and shuttle waiver-exempt players back and forth between the NHL and AHL to get under the cap.
The 23-year-old Dermott will be in a better position contract wise in the next off-season if he combines a solid year with the arrival of his arbitration rights.
He is also positioned to remain on the NHL roster for all of this coming season. He is not waiver exempt, so if the Leafs wanted to move him to shed salary they would have to expose him on waivers, where he’d most likely be claimed by another team.
If the Leafs do plan to manage their cap by manoeuvring waiver-exempt players, they can do so with two forwards (Pierre Engvall and Nick Robertson) and two defencemen (Rasmus Sandin and Mikko Lehtonen).
It would take even more creativity to buy cap space for nonroster players to gain NHL ice time.
Alexander Barabanov, Joey Anderson, Timothy Liljegren and Teemu Kivihalme — among others — are waiver exempt and far enough along in their development to be considered NHL ready.
Lehtonen in particular, on loan to Jokerit, is off to a solid start in the Kontinental Hockey League and expected to be a strong candidate for the top six on defence whenever training camp arrives.
Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie seem destined to form the top pairing, followed by last year’s shutdown pair of Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl. That leaves newly signed Zach Bogosian, Sandin, Dermott and Lehtonen battling for the next two spots — but with all four likely to see action over the course of the season.
A second-round pick (34th overall) in 2015, Dermott had four goals and seven assists in 56 games this past season with a career-high 17:19 in average ice time — one second more than the previous season.
He also had career highs in plus-minus (14) and blocked shots (58), important numbers for a Leafs team targeting an upgrade in play in its own zone.
Armed with a cap-friendly contract, Dermott may now be positioned to show his true potential and parlay that into a better deal after next season.