As a Dman born in 1996, Dermott has played 208 games for us. The only other Dmen born in that year (of which there are 35) who've played more games than Travis: Ekblad, Sanheim, Petterson, Andersson, Dunn, Carlo. In total points, Dermott has only outproduced Carlo. In points/60 he's outpaced Carlo by almost 2x and is within .1 point/game of Andersson. Dermott has played anywhere from 1:06 - 7:30 minutes less/game than all of the others (Petterson-Ekblad being the outliners). Provorov, Hanifan, Chabot, Werenski and McAvoy are the only defensemen from '97 (of which there are 33) to have played more games than Dermott. A severely separated shoulder cost Dermott games in two seasons and impeded his play and progression during one season. His main partners during these 4 seasons: Bogosian, Holl, Barrie, Ceci, Gardiner (Dermott playing his off side), Ozhiganov, Zaitsev, Polak, Carrick and Marancin (playing his off side again). Not exactly a murderers row of talent.
Cap hit:
Ekblad: 7.5M
Sanheim: RFA, 3.25M last year
Petterson: 4.025M
Andersson: 4.55M
Dunn: RFA 1.875M last year
Carlo: 4.1M
Provorov: 6.75M
Hanifan: 4.95M
Chabot: 5M (9.5M next year)
McAvoy: 4.9M
Dermott: 1.5M
I am not suggesting Dermott is the equal to any of these players, but for a guy who has played as many games as he has, with the partners he has, who still has room to grow, has proved capable on the 3rd pair and costs what he does...