Toronto Maple Leafs Hypothetical Trade: Max Domi Comes Home

There’s no better rivalry in hockey than the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.

Since 1917, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens have battled against each other. Overall, the Canadiens have a 401-318-88-11 all-time advantage over the Leafs and have dominated the team in championships.  Since the Leafs last Stanley Cup victory in 1967, the blue-and-white haven’t even played in a championship series, while their rival Canadiens have won nine championships in that time-frame.

Even though Toronto and Montreal haven’t played each other in the playoffs since 1979, the rivalry is still alive.  Even to this day, there’s nothing better than a “Hockey Night in Canada” match-up between the Leafs and Habs. Both teams could be last in the NHL, but there’s always bragging rights on the line.

With such a historic rivalry, the Canadiens and Leafs don’t do a lot of business together.  It’s the strangest thing in professional sports that teams hate trading with their rival. In my opinion, it makes absolutely no sense.  If it’s the best deal, take it!

Why would you marginalize the trade market because the fan-bases don’t like each other? If it makes your team better, do the trade. Regardless, in the history of both franchises, the two teams have only made a handful of trades.  However, in this hypothetical trade world, we have to explore a potential Toronto/Montreal transaction.

Leafs Could Acquire Max Domi

The trade:

• Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Max Domi ($TBD), Paul Byron ($3.4M)
• Montreal Canadiens acquire: Alex Kerfoot ($3.4M), Andreas Johnsson ($3.4M)

I know Tie Domi embraced Max becoming a Montreal Canadiens player because he loves his son but don’t you think he would be even more happy if he was a member of the Leafs?

Also, the storyline makes way too much sense. Having already been traded once in his career, he hasn’t been the consistent NHL-scorer that many hoped he would be.

During the playoffs this season, Domi was playing on the fourth-line, which is insane based off his skill-level. He’s the type of player that has world-class talent but could maybe benefit playing on the wing instead.

If Domi came to Toronto and played on the first or second line with Matthews or Tavares, I think his game would be unstoppable. He scored 28 goals in the 2018-19 season with Montreal, but on that line with the Leafs, his true potential would shine.

Not only would the Leafs get Domi in this trade, but they would get a feisty winger in Byron. He plays with an edge and isn’t afraid to fight and hit. He’s also scored 20 goals in an NHL season before, but the Leafs wouldn’t need him to contribute as much offensively.

Instead of having more skill with Johnsson, Byron would add a different element to Toronto’s line-up, including more sandpaper.

The acquisition of Domi and Byron is very intriguing but it’s also something that probably would never happen based on the history of both franchises. Either way, it’s a fun hypothetical and in a fairy-tale world, maybe Domi does return to his dad’s roots one day and shines in Toronto.