Yes, the all-too-common super-deep dependency trees are a problem. If you're reasonable about your dependencies though it doesn't happen (my last few JS dependency graphs are pretty similar to my Python ones).
One of the issues is the stdlib and the other issue is a different mindset due to a lower barrier of entry to creating a package. (eg. creating and maintaining a package in Python sucks, so you're less likely to do it for small, self-contained things rather than create a utils.py)
shrugs, I honestly don't know what meaningful change this discussion can lead to. People are generally aware of this, and the problem isn't actively getting worse, so I imagine it'll get better over time.
