Montreal Canadiens Roundtable: Max Domi Domination

Wesley Smith: Yes, I don’t see why Max Domi can’t continue his scoring. Maybe not at the rate he’s been producing over the last couple weeks, however, I would be surprised at all to see him top 30 goals and 80 points. Domi proved in junior with the London Knights that he was a prominent offensive force and the Coyotes clearly thought so as well when the selected him at 12. I fully expect Domi to continue to lead the way for the Montreal Canadiens and their offence this season.

Mark Darling:  Being the eternal cynic that I am, I’m still very skeptical of Max Domi’s ability to maintain his torrid goal pace, but I must admit that the little buzzsaw has me starting to second-guess myself seriously. Domi currently has ten goals through the first 18 games, which puts him on pace for a 45-goal season, a total that should lie well beyond the realm of reality, even for the most optimistic Habs fan out there.

But then again, while we’re donning the rose-coloured glasses, Gallagher is on pace for 41 himself.
At any moment, I’m expecting Rod Serling to appear with something submitted for my approval.
And to further rain on the Domi parade, he is not known traditionally as a sniper or goal scorer.

In fact, Domi has never scored 45 goals in one year before at any level, with his highest OHL single-season total being just 39 markers. He has always been more of a playmaker and assists man, and his career numbers attest to that fact, but perhaps Max has found the scoring touch in La Belle Province. Personally, I’ll be quite satisfied with a final goal total somewhere in the low 30’s for Domi this year.

Anything above that is pure gravy as far as I’m concerned. And who knows? He may continue to pour it on thick all season.

Omar White: I’ve dived deep into Domi’s goal-scoring ways so far for the Montreal Canadiens. Everyone else I’m sure has touched on his obscenely high shooting percentage which is currently 13.8% greater than the one he had in his rookie season with the Arizona Coyotes. What is a little reassuring is the number of shots and shot attempts he has per game is fairly consistent with what he’s put up in his career.

Domi is making good use of his speed and shoots from the right areas to beat goaltenders. You rarely see him standing still on a goal, and his better goals have been in the instances where he is entering the zone at a high enough pace to easily get by defending players and playing himself in the right positions to score.

His goal against the Washington Capitals with less than 30 seconds left was the only flukey one. It was the similar Domi model of rushing down the wall with speed, but that isn’t a goal many would expect Brayden Holtby to give up.

The 23-year-old is doing all the right things, and it’s making it tough to bet against him. I don’t think he can continue to score at the exact same pace, but I also can’t rule out Domi finishing with less than 20.