It flew completely under the radar because of all the activity and noise leading up to July 1 but Max Domi did something extremely admirable last weekend.
He left money on the table to stay in Toronto. In fact, it’s fair to say he took a ‘hometown discount.’
The 29-year-old, who quickly ascended into a fan-favourite in short order in his first season with the Maple Leafs, deserves to be recognized for his act of good faith.
Just a day before the unrestricted free agent market opened, Domi agreed upon a four-year contract extension worth $3.75 million per season. There’s no question he could’ve received way more elsewhere, but again, the son of a Toronto sports legend took a haircut to make everything work for both parties.
Seriously though, when’s the last time someone did that in this market?
It’s been a while.
Needless to say, we need to be consistent. If we’re going to slam players for being greedy, we need to commend those like Domi who understood the assignment. Although everyone’s financial situation is different, saving every penny possible in a salary cap world is vital. On the surface, it might not seem like Domi took substantially less than market value, but long-term, indisputably, those savings will help the front office out immensely down the road.
When it comes to contract negotiations, it was a rare win for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who in that department, have been routinely taken to the woodshed over the past decade. That said, so far so good under Brad Treliving. Aside from maybe the David Kampf deal, he’s done a respectable job ironing out contracts over the past year. Seriously, it could be worse. Much worse. It wasn’t the previous administration’s forte —that’s for sure.
In the grand scheme of things, all this was made possible by Max Domi. After taking one year and $3 million – another reasonable number – last summer, he grabbed term this time around. Early on, Domi realized that Toronto is where he wants to be. Most importantly, Toronto is where he wants to win. At the end of the day, he sacrificed a few bucks for the betterment of his team.
Bravo, Max Domi.
