Travis Dermott had his best game of the preseason, highlighted by a second-period goal that briefly tied the score in Seattle.
But was it enough to keep his tryout audition alive, get another exhibition contest and stay in the running to earn an NHL contract with the Edmonton Oilers?
Coach Kris Knoblauch said before the Oilers left Edmonton for the Emerald City that Dermott would get one more game before a decision needed to be made about his status. Dermott should have given the team’s brass a lot to think about.
Playing the right side for the first time his preseason, Dermott was paired with Darnell Nurse who was making his 2024-25 debut. Dermott scored the team’s second goal in tight and did a good job of pushing play over his 19:10 of work in Wednesday’s 6-2 loss.
Dermott on the spot https://t.co/KFNTVKurGv pic.twitter.com/1rjc8Qh2pQ
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 3, 2024
The 3-1 goal deficit at five-on-five the Oilers sustained when Dermott was on the ice can be attributed to a rough outing for goaltender Olivier Rodrigue more than anything else. Dermott’s 60 expected goals percentage was third among Oilers defencemen after Mattias Ekholm and Nurse, per Natural Stat Trick. That was more indicative of his performance.
However, a crowded blue line means Dermott is in tough.
“We’ve got a lot of good defencemen that we’ve been evaluating, and we’ll obviously have one more tough decision to make,” Knoblauch said.
Coaches and executives like to espouse that roster spots and ice time are awarded based on merit. They seldom are, at least entirely. Ben Gleason would have been on the ice Wednesday in Seattle pushing onward in his attempt to make the Oilers instead of preparing for another AHL season if that were the case.
Contract statuses play a large role in who stays put and who doesn’t. Dermott has outplayed Josh Brown throughout the preseason — as he did again in Seattle — but the Oilers signed Brown to a three-year deal three months ago. Teams don’t often waive a player in that circumstance before he’s even participated in a real game.
The rest of the right side of the defence behind Evan Bouchard is made up of Troy Stecher and Ty Emberson. The former is about to start a two-year contract, whereas the latter has been pencilled as Nurse’s partner since the beginning of camp.
Left defence, Dermott’s natural side, is solidified with Ekholm, Nurse and Brett Kulak all returning.
It’s hard to see how Dermott, a veteran of 329 NHL games, fits on the Oilers blue line. And that’s just scratching the surface of things.
There’s no power-play time awaiting Dermott with this club. The only opportunity he got on the penalty kill on Wednesday came when Ekholm was in the box.
That he entered camp sans contract for the first time in his career only adds another minus to the equation.
“You don’t expect to be in this situation. You hope you’re not,” Dermott said.
Still, Dermott has a lot of people in his corner.
There are some obvious connections: CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson was his agent until he joined the Oilers last August. Connor McDavid is his longtime friend and former teammate in minor and junior hockey. Knoblauch coached him in junior.
“His calming presence is unlike any other coach I’ve had,” Dermott said.
It doesn’t stop there.
He played with Connor Brown and Zach Hyman in Toronto and Vasily Podkolzin in Vancouver. He spent last year in Arizona with Josh Brown and Stecher — at least before Stecher was dealt to the Oilers in March. Now, he’ll almost certainly have to buck the odds and supplant one of them to get on the team.
“We have guys battling for a spot,” Dermott said. “It’s tough the way it unfolds — it’s pretty much against two guys that I played with last year. But that’s how it is. That’s the business of things.
“The comforting thing is that we’re still best buddies. We’ll leave the decision up to these guys, and we’ll support each other as much as we can.”
The Oilers want to accrue as much cap space as they can to help augment the team before the trade deadline. Going with a 22-man roster — with injured winger Evander Kane — rather than the maximum 23 players facilitates that.
The Oilers are slated to have $838,719 in space heading into the season, per PuckPedia, now that a prorated charge of $107,114 for injured winger Roby Jarventie is expected to be added to their cap. The charge will last until Jarventie is healthy enough to report to AHL Bakersfield, which should be a few days into the season. Adding another contract cuts into that space even more.
Not only that, but the Oilers could use an extra forward if they’re going to add a player rather than an eighth defenceman. It’s why Noah Philp and perhaps even Raphael Lavoie, who’s nursing an injury, should have a leg up on the 27-year-old rearguard.
Perhaps Dermott can score a two-way contract as he did a week and a half into free agency last year. Should that happen, it might also come with a placement on waivers and a stint in the minors. Dermott’s played in just one AHL game since the 2017-18 season.
“I don’t try to think about that too much, to be honest,” he said. “I leave that up to my agent. I feel like the healthiest thing for me is to focus on where I am right now and doing what I can, enjoying the game, playing the best hockey I can. Then, whatever happens, happens.”
Dermott is just trying to put his best foot forward and stay in contention for a job.
Camp hasn’t been ideal in that he’s left his family behind. His wife, Katerina, his daughter, Rosa, and his son, James, are back in Stouffville, Ont. — 50 kilometres northeast of Toronto — given all the uncertainty. The kids turn 2 and 1 in December, respectively.
It’s something he doesn’t want to have to go through next year, he said. He’s bounced between Vancouver and Arizona since being dealt from Toronto in March 2022. Injuries have limited him to just 61 games over the last two seasons, too.
Dermott must get through this camp first — and earn a contract — before he can fully reestablish himself as an NHLer.
“I haven’t been happy with the last number of years of my career,” Dermott said. “The last few years has been learning to love the game again. Knobber implements that calm, playing loose mindset. I feel like I’ve lost that the last few years, especially.
“Now, it’s just finding my game and understanding what my potential is and trying to achieve that.”
The only thing left to find out is if it’ll happen in Edmonton or elsewhere.
(Photo: Steven Bisig / Imagn Images)
