The Blackhawks made seven signings in the first 24 hours of free agency, one of which was the controversial Max Domi. He signed a one-year, $3 million deal and will play on his fifth NHL team in eight seasons.
It wasn’t unusual for the Blackhawks to sign Domi and I’ll explain why in a minute. The real question is, why did Domi sign here? It’s pretty clear that the Original Six franchise is in the beginning stages of a full-scale rebuild, and the magnitude of it became real when Kirby Dach and Alex DeBrincat were traded and Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Strome received no qualifying offers.
There were several reasons Domi went out of his way to sign with the Blackhawks, the biggest of which was reuniting with his former assistant coach in Montreal.
“To be honest with you, as soon as they hired Luke Richardson as their head coach, I called my agent and said, ‘Hey, I want to go to Chicago,'” Domi said in a video conference Thursday morning. “I caught up from there and talked to them a little bit and right before free agency started, there was a deal and it was ready to go. I’m very happy to be in Chicago.”
“It’s one of my favorite teams growing up, and Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are two of my favorite guys growing up. You look at probably the greatest American-born player of all time and then you have Jonny Toews. As a Canadian kid, it’s like him and Sid were the two guys you looked up to, so the opportunity to play with those two guys, wear that jersey and play for Luke were the main reasons I chose Chicago and I’m very happy with my decision. And I can’t wait to get started.”
Although the Blackhawks have reduced their roster, it’s still important to have players like Domi in your lineup. Yes, he is a skilled forward and can produce offense. But just as importantly, he’s known for being a firebrand, tough to fight and has no problem standing up for his teammates, which is sorely needed on a young roster.
Look no further than what happened to the rebuilding Anaheim Ducks during the last month of last season. They traded enforcer Nic Deslauriers and physical shutdown defenseman Josh Manson at the deadline for future assets, and understandably so. It was good asset management for the organization. But it came at a cost.
Two weeks later, the Ducks found themselves in a game where they were crushing the Arizona Coyotes 5-0 before all hell broke loose late in the third period when 20-year-old rising superstar Trevor Zegras tried to put the puck in. below goalkeeper Josef Korenar. . Coyotes forward Jay Beagle immediately burst into the crease and controlled the Zegras from behind, leading to a massive scrum.
The teammate who jumped into Zegras’s defense was 24-year-old Troy Terry, who was Anaheim’s leading scorer. And Beagle, who has nine professional fights, absolutely beat him in a one-sided melee. One could certainly argue that the referees should have stepped in immediately, given that it was a clear mismatch, but they didn’t, and the fight ultimately ended with Terry looking unrecognizable due to a significant injury to his swollen left eye and cheek.
Why didn’t anyone else come to Zegras’ defense? Because the other three ducks on the ice were 19-year-old defenseman Jamie Drysdale (who was ranked No. 6 overall in 2020), 25-year-old playing winger Sonny Milano (former first-round pick) and 30- Cam Fowler, one-year-old defenseman (who was drafted 12th overall in 2010).
The point is that the Ducks had no one to protect their young stars and that prompted franchise legend Teemu Selanne to tweet his frustration the next day, saying, “I don’t like how these young Ducks stars get pushed. …we need a couple Tie Domi is here…now…joke over…”
Well, how about a Max Domi?
“Max is an energetic guy,” Richardson said. “He’s going to feed off of the exciting electricity of the crowd here in Chicago and the city. That’s where he flourishes. You saw him in junior, he did it in London and in junior world. He was probably one of the best players in the tournament, if not And his first year in Montreal, the exciting Saturday nights at Hockey Night in Canada in Montreal, he lives for it.”
And in case you’re wondering, yes, Domi and Connor Murphy, who were teammates for two years with the Arizona Coyotes, set the record straight after this April 2021 incident:
“I was waiting for that one,” Domi laughed. “Actually, we’re really good friends. He was one of my best friends in Arizona. He knows sometimes when my switch works like that. It doesn’t matter who it is, it’s just the reality of the game. We had a good one. I actually saw it, I was in Chicago last week, I came down for the day, got a chance to chat with him and Jonathan Toews, so that was great.
“No, Murph and I are excited to be together again. I love him to death. He’s a great hockey player, but an even better guy. I can’t wait.”
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