When the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Max Domi back in 2023, it was a popular move.
And so was signing him to an extension until 2028.
Domi had big shoes to fill when he signed with the club. His dad, Tie, was an icon – but not for his skilled play. No. 28’s toughness made him a formidable foe for just about every tough guy in the league, and he’s still viewed fondly in this city.
His son isn’t afraid to mix it up, but that’s not Max’s game. Instead, he’s a more intricate, two-way power forward with some excellent hands. He’s never been a big-time goal-scorer, with his career best coming when he potted 28 with Montreal in 2018-19. But instead, he’s a smart, calculated playmaker who play with just about everyone, anywhere. And after bouncing around six teams before landing in Toronto, it looks like Domi is right at home.
Domi – Toronto’s second-line center – has five assists through four games. He was held off the scoresheet when Montreal shut out the club in the opening game, but he has at least one point in every game since. That includes a pair of two-assist showings against Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, tying him with Mitch Marner for first in team scoring.
At 5-on-5, nobody on the Leafs is within two of Domi’s 4.74 assists-per-60. The same goes for primary assists, where his 3.56 is way above Jake McCabe in second at 1.9, according to Natural Stat Trick.
And that’s not new to Domi. He was the only Leaf to surpass the 2.0 assists-per-60 at 5-on-5 last year, finishing with 2.23. He again led all players in primary and secondary assists per 60, finishing the year with 38 – the most since he registered 44 in that same 2018-19 season in Montreal.
According to Evolving-Hockey, Domi’s 1.9 wins above replacement and 11.3 goals above replacement were good for third among all Leafs’ forwards last year. They were among the best numbers of his career, and a big boost for someone who seemed to lack the energy and effectiveness that he showed early in his career.
While John Tavares had previously been Nylander’s center, it seems the connection with Domi has proven to be fruitful this year. And that’s important, as Domi originally looked destined to start on the wing when he came to Toronto. With so much talk about Nylander trying time at center, the solution was simple: let Domi do it.
With so much of the talk in Toronto surrounding the costly nature of the big four, especially with Tavares and Marner set for new deals this summer, Domi’s $3.75 million cap hit is a breath of fresh air. He’s in the first of a four-year deal, and at 29, he’s still young enough to have a lot of good hockey left in him. It’s hard to argue that Domi doesn’t provide the best value-per-dollar on a Leafs team that’s always operating at the very extremes of the salary cap.
Even as the salary cap goes off, it’s always good to save money when you can. And when the value follows, you can’t ask for much more.
There’s still more room to improve. Domi has just two shots so far this season, with neither being particularly dangerous, despite being around the hash marks. He’s never really been a high-volume shooter – he had just seven games in which he had more than three in a game last year – and that’s never going to be his game. But with how good he’s been with the puck early on, adding that element of being to shoot with confidence and take the pressure off of someone like Nylander could go a long way.
It’s still early days in Domi’s new deal and if play slips, so will the shine. But after years of bouncing from market to market, Domi is playing some of the best hockey of his career. It’s unlikely he continues at his current 103-point pace, but breaking 50 for the first time since, again, 2018-19, would go a long way in helping Toronto address secondary-scoring issues behind the likes of Matthews, Marner and Nylander.
And if it all goes south, his salary makes him an easy asset to flip. But with the way he’s playing right now, don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.
