The arbitration-eligible Dermott showed fairly well on the left side of a bottom pairing with Zach Bogosian throughout the shortened regular season, controlling 53% of the shot attempts and 57% of the expected Goals in 362 even-strength minutes together. Although they were marginally outscored (13-11) at 5v5, it was a stress-free partnership throughout the season, and it probably should’ve been the team’s bottom pairing throughout the full series against Montreal.
This is a reasonable enough (and should be movable, if need be) salary if Dermott is indeed the team’s bottom-pairing defenseman — with potentially some upside left beyond that — for the next couple of seasons.