Once NHL Free Agency kicked off, the Toronto Maple Leafs underwent a much-needed restructuring. While it was less significant than most fans would have liked, the Maple Leafs did bring in Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to address their pitiful blueline and brought in Anthony Stolarz to guard the crease in tandem with Joseph Woll.
The only other significant move the Maple Leafs made was resigning Max Domi after a solid first season with the organization.
Domi scored 47 points in 80 games in his first season with the team. That's alright, considering he did not get a whiff of first-unit powerplay time and spent most of the year playing on the third line.
Only when Mitch Marner went down with an ankle injury did Domi get his chance to play with Auston Matthews on the Leafs' top forward line. During this month without Marner, Domi had his best month of the year alongside Matthews, tallying 11 points in 14 games and having the second-most assists in the NHL throughout March.
The Maple Leafs will lack scoring depth in 2024-25. Because of this, some have speculated that Domi will retake the third-line centre role, but this is entirely counterproductive; Domi needs to play with Matthews on the top line.
Max Domi Useless To Maple Leafs Without Auston Matthews
While Domi has experience playing centre, he should still play that position even if the Maple Leafs still determine who they will utilize in a third-line centre role.
Domi is a defensive liability sometimes, and running him up the middle on what you want to be your best defensive line will never work. In addition to his poor defensive play, Domi brings very little to the table regarding depth scoring. He has only scored 11 goals in his last 100 regular season games.
You could argue that Domi would be great at setting people up in a third-line role, and you would be right. Domi's playmaking ability is his greatest strength, and you can only utilize him to his full ability if he is playing with a true goal scorer.
Domi finished the 2023-24 regular season in the top one percent of forwards in primary assists, the top 93% in chance assists, the top 15% in primary shot assists, and the top 15% in high-danger passing (via @JFreshHockey).
Would you rather Domi be setting up Auston Matthews or Bobby McMann?
The choice is obvious: having Domi set up plays for Matthews will yield far more predictable results than for Domi buried on the third line. Matthews is the best in the world at converting scoring chances to goals, and Domi has been one of the best in the league at creating those chances off passes over the last year.
A top-line of Domi, Matthews and Mitch Marner would be one of the best combinations in the league, if not the best. Domi would bring some grittiness to that line and has shown he will do anything to protect these guys. With Matthews and Marner being two of the best defensive forwards in the NHL, they will more than make up for Domi's defensive shortcomings and allow him to excel in creating plays off the rush.
Ideally, you want your third line to be a shutdown defensive line. Domi just does not fit that mould. If you want the most out of the money you just gave Domi, you play him beside 34.