The contract
Max Domi signs a one-year, $3 million AAV deal with the Maple Leafs.
Sean McIndoe: It’s fair to say that day two of free agency went better for Brad Treliving than day one. After receiving decidedly mixed reviews (or worse) for landing Ryan Reaves and John Klingberg, Treliving got better grades for the Tyler Bertuzzi signing. I’m guessing the Max Domi deal will fall into that category too.
We’ll get to the fit in a second, but first things first: It’s just kind of cool to see Tie Domi’s kid get to play for the Maple Leafs. Think what you want of the old man, but in his prime, he was one of the most popular Leafs of the era, and may have had his name chanted by the ACC crowd more than just about anyone in history. Now the doe-eyed kid who used to tag along with him is set to follow in his footsteps. Even a crusty old cynic like yours truly can appreciate that. (Also, Sam Lafferty better offer him his dad’s No. 28.)
Putting sentiment aside, the deal is a good one for the Leafs and has the potential to be a great one for Domi, who’ll get a chance to put up numbers with some talented linemates and get way more attention for it than he would in any other market, both of which could help when he re-enters the market next summer. In the meantime, the Leafs get a solid middle-six piece that can provide some of that offense that keeps disappearing in the playoffs. The AAV is fair, and the one-year term means the risk here is low.
It’s ironic that Treliving’s weekend will probably be applauded the loudest by the same voices who’ve spent years telling us that the Leafs can’t play defense, given that’s the side of the ledger that’s taken a beating in the last few days. But this team needed offensive help, along with a little bit of nastiness. Domi can provide both. And maybe he can even add a small reminder of the days when this team was fun to cheer for.
Contract grade: A-
Fit grade: B+
Sean Gentille: Max Domi isn’t a good defensive player. He’s a bad one, actually. We should get that out of the way because it’s the biggest reason not to love this deal for the Leafs. His work in his own end is abysmal by most measures, Dom Luszczyszyn’s included, and it basically always has been. That’s part of the reason the Leafs are his sixth team. The numbers are indicative of the player, and short wingers with no defensive game typically aren’t favored by coaches. Duly noted.
If Domi were a defensive stud, though, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. He’d be a year or two into a huge, long contract. When we grade on a curve, as we should, it’s impossible to view this as anything other than a really nice win for Toronto — and that’s without taking the family ties into consideration.
What’s consistently been lost in the Maple Leafs discourse over the last few years is that, come playoff time, they haven’t just needed grit, or goaltending, or stalwart defensive play. They need point production — and they need it from outside the Core Four. It would’ve been great for Toronto, no doubt, if Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews each potted a half-dozen against the Panthers. The fact that they didn’t is an issue. But one way to guard against that — and an area in which the 2022-23 roster fell short — is to have some offensive punch down the lineup.
Domi brings that. He’s positionally versatile and can play up in a pinch, though with Bertuzzi in the fray that probably won’t be necessary. With Chicago last season, Domi put up 49 points in 60 games (1.9/60). In the playoffs with Dallas — a team with a significantly deeper forward group — he had 13 in 19 games (2.47/60, second on the team to Roope Hintz).
Are there risks? Sure. Maybe his defensive issues negate his offensive production; they certainly have in the past. But the potential, plus a penchant for after-the-whistle pushback, if that’s your thing and you believe that the Leafs lacked it, make him more than worth the money. Think of it this way: How else would they have better spent it?
Contract grade: A
Fit grade: A-
(Photo: Julian Avram / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
