When forward Max Domi was traded to the Montreal Canadiens from the Arizona Coyotes it was a new beginning.
He hadn’t played all that bad but yet he wasn’t really progressing as an NHL player.
Max Domi’s Time in Arizona
Domi was the 12th overall selection of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2013 NHL Entry draft. He scored 18 goals in his first season in Arizona. That was due partly to his on and off ice chemistry with fellow rookie Anthony Duclair, who scored 20 times himself.
The pair of players just had that kind of chemistry where each player knew where the other would be. They had an innate sense about them that resulted in some pretty goals.
The duo was dubbed “the killer D’s” and were immediate fan favourites. They were such good friends that they roomed together. That is until it was discovered that Duclair was allergic to Domi’s diabetes service dog, Orion.
That meant Duclair had to find different living quarters and it seemed the two just drifted apart after that.
On January 10, 2018, Duclair was traded to Chicago by Arizona with Adam Clendening for Richard Panik and Laurent Dauphin.
Max Domi Became a Montreal Canadien
By June 15th that same year Domi was headed to Montreal in a blockbuster trade sending forward Alex Galchenyuk to the desert. To many, it was a surprise one-for-one trade and as it has turned out both teams have benefited from the change of scenery for each player.
Of course, it seems like the Canadiens have benefited more because of Domi currently leading his team with 22 goals, 37 assists in 64 games. He has already exceeded his best season in Arizona which was during the 2015-16 season when he collected 18 goals and 34 assists in 81 games.
He had only scored nine goals during each of the last two seasons in Arizona. He’s still one tough customer with 78 penalty minutes exceeding the 73 minutes he had in 2017-18.
He is fearless even with his rather small size coming in at 5’10”, 193lbs. After all his Dad is Tie Domi.
Looking on the Galchenyuk side of the ledger, he had an early-season injury which kept him out for 10 games. He is really on fire of late scoring six goals, four assists in his last 10 games. While Galchenyuk has 0.67 points per game, Domi has 0.92 showing that Montreal has won the trade thus far.
Going Forward
The way Max Domi is playing now the future looks bright for him and the Montreal Canadiens. He signed a two-year $6.3 million contract extension the day after the trade. So, if he continues his stellar play he could actually get a better contract when the current one expires.
What is really noticeable about Domi’s resurgence is he has improved his shooting percentage. That means he’s being more selective on when to shoot and when to hold off. During his three-year stint in Arizona, his shooting percentage was a putrid 8.7 percent. Since joining the Canadiens he has almost doubled that total to 15 percent.
It seems like many of Domi’s goals are on the rush and he scores quite a bit in the slot area. His wrist shot is like a bullet and his accuracy is sniper-like.
It takes every young player some time to mature and perhaps the Coyotes just didn’t wait long enough to reap the rewards of his excellent play.
In any case, Max Domi has found a new home and his dog Orion has also adjusted.
Perhaps, Orion is even better company than Anthony Duclair.
