Maple Leafs will be without one key forward to start the season

The Toronto Maple Leafs have already been hit with the injury bug before the 2026-27 season has even started. Well, sort of.

According to a recent report, Maple Leafs forward Max Domi is expected to miss all of training camp and has already been ruled out to start the season on the sidelines. He's recovering from an offseason surgery and will still be recovering for the next couple months as the Leafs season gets underway.

Daily Faceoff's Nick Alberga also mentioned that there is "still lots of uncertainty" surrounding Domi's injury. It certainly seems like recovery could take quite a while and we won't see Domi on the ice for quite some time. Or, on the other hand, he can make a speedy recovery and thanks to all the latest advancements in sports medicine, he'll be out there skating in no time.

Again, still lots of uncertainty.

Will the Leafs miss Max Domi?

Domi did unfortunately also have a down year for the Leafs last season. In 80 games for the club, he scored 12 goals and 36 points. It was technically the most goals he has scored as a Maple Leaf since joining the team for the 2023-24 season, but the production was just not there and not good enough -- especially considering he averaged his highest time-on-ice of 14:53 since signing with the Leafs.

All of that is to say that Domi won't be missed terribly. They will miss his speed and maybe his aggressiveness, but with the several moves that new general manager John Chayka made this offseason, a whole lot of that has been added to the team. Someone like Teddy Blueger or Colton Sissons might not skate as fast as Domi and won't have the same offensive instincts he does, but when it comes to overall impact of the game -- since Domi could not care about defense at all and those two certainly do -- Toronto is in a better place with those depth players over Domi.

We don't want to kick a guy when he's down, but the on-ice impact of Domi possibly missing a significant amount of time will be fairly low.

Leafs get a financial benefit with Domi's absence

One major factor in all of this is that the Leafs might end up getting to have a legal roster.

Currently, they are approximately $2.75 million over the salary cap, according to PuckPedia. If Domi is placed on Long-Term Injured Reserve, then Domi's entire $3.75-million AAV will be accounted for and the Leafs will be allowed to exceed the salary cap ceiling by that amount. Which, in turn, will make them cap compliant for the start of the season.

Once Domi returns to full health (if he does) then Toronto will need to figure out some other way to make the dollars work, but for now, Chayka can sleep easy at night knowing the money is just fine if Domi goes on LTIR.

It's never good to have a player so rooted in this current day Leafs team to be out for a while with an injury, but now it's an opportunity to see these new players and to see if maybe they can exceed what Domi brings to the table.

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