Toronto Maple Leafs trade Travis Dermott to Canucks

In a day of great anticipation, the Toronto Maple Leafs have traded defenceman Travis Dermott to the Vancouver Canucks.

While Toronto Maple Leafs fans awaited news of an impending trade for Mark Giordano, another trade was struck by general manager Kyle Dubas that saw Travis Dermott’s tenure with the club come to an end.

Dermott was traded to the Canucks in a straightforward deal that sees the Leafs acquire a 2022 third-round pick (originally owned by the Winnipeg Jets) in return.

Dermott’s days with the Leafs were numbered, with the emergence of Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren making it difficult for the team to fit him into their top-six rotation when all players were fully healthy.

The Newmarket, Ontario native was a second round (34th overall) selection by the Leafs in the 2015 Draft and there were early indications in his career that he could be a top-four defenceman for the team after impressing in his rookie season in 2017/18.

Dermott, however, has struggled to lock down a place in that top four consistently and has seen his playing time drop significantly since averaging a career-high 17:19 during the 2019/20 season – averaging just 13:13 and 14:43 in the past two years respectively.

The 25-year-old left-shot blueliner is on a very manageable contract for the majority of teams in the NHL, holding a cap hit of just $1.5 million this season and next – but the Leafs needed to clear space in order to facilitate further moves that they believe can help them reach the next level.

Dermott will be missed by fans of the Leafs, who have rooted for him ever since he broke into the NHL, seeing him feature in 251 regular season games to date and register 12 goals and 40 assists during that span.

The trade to the Canucks will give him an opportunity to impress another team in the league and solidify himself a larger role – it also opens up the possibility of more deals for the Leafs as the trade deadline draws ever closer