The Arizona Coyotes have added some blue-line depth, signing UFA defenseman Travis Dermott to a one-year, two-way deal, per CapFriendly. He’ll earn $800K in the NHL and $450K when assigned to the minors.
General manager Bill Armstrong has been quite active in filling out his budding core with depth additions on the UFA market, and Dermott adds to that list. The Coyotes lack many experienced defenders, and without a clear number-one caliber player on the backend, they’ll need a by-committee approach to keep the puck out of their net next season.
Dermott joins that committee after playing just 11 games for the Vancouver Canucks last season, sidelined for most of the 2022-23 campaign with concussion issues. If he can stay healthy, the 26-year-old will compete for ice time in the desert with depth defenders like Josh Brown, Michael Kesselring, and Troy Stecher.
His 279 games of NHL experience rank highly among Coyotes defensemen, although the vast majority of those games came in a Toronto Maple Leafs uniform between 2017 and 2022. Toronto dealt him to Vancouver at the 2022 trade deadline in exchange for a third-round pick.
In his NHL career, Dermott has contributed 14 goals, 41 assists, and 55 points. Limited to third-pair minutes, Dermott has posted strong possession metrics when healthy, something Arizona will look to capitalize on during his tenure there.
If nothing else, his presence allows head coach Andre Tourigny more flexibility to do what he wants with the team’s defense – especially since Dermott has experience playing both the left and right side.