Dermott's hockey heroes are ... (insert names here)

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Defenceman Travis Dermott, playing in his first regular-season game for the Maple Leafs, lays out Canucks forward Markus Granlund at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night. Dermott had an assist and was plus-1 in 12:03 of ice time. (Dave Abel/Toronto Sun)

Don’t ask Travis Dermott about his hockey heroes.

You might come away disappointed.

Dermott had a bit of a confession to make on Saturday morning, hours before he made his NHL debut on the Maple Leafs blue line against the Vancouver Canucks.

“It’s weird, I’ve never had a pinpoint favourite D-man that I look up to,” Dermott said. “Offensively, a guy like Duncan Keith (of the Chicago Blackhawks) would be a good guy to look up to, a guy who can skate pretty well, move the puck out quickly and jump in offensively if he needs to.”

Dermott’s inclusion in the lineup meant rookie Andreas Borgman was a healthy scratch for the third time this season, and first since Oct. 17. 

Borgman is averaging 13 minutes 43 seconds of ice time this season, lowest among Leafs defence regulars, but leads Toronto defencemen with 97 hits.

“Borgman never did anything wrong,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We’re just going to have a look at Dermott.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com