Montreal Canadiens Should Sign Max Domi Immediately

The Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin took a lot of abuse online for trading Alex Galchenyuk straight up for Max Domi a year ago. Since then, Domi has proven to be invaluable and should be re-signed immediately.

The Montreal Canadiens have been desperate for a first line center for two decades. They thought they drafted one when they took Alex Galchenyuk third overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. As it turns out, that pick led them to a first line center, but they had to trade Galchenyuk to get him.

When the deal was made, Domi was written off by many Habs fans. He had scored just nine goals in each of the past two seasons. A lot was written about how good Galchenyuk was at center and that he wasn’t given a chance to shine in Montreal. We heard more about the number of empty net goals Domi scored than anything else about him.

It didn’t take long for Domi to change the opinions being written about him. He moved to center, another criticism launched at Bergevin and Claude Julien, but it proved to be a genius move. Domi finished his first season in Montreal with 28 goals, 44 assists and 72 points in 82 games.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 19: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Not only did Domi prove to be capable of playing center in the pressure-packed environment of Montreal, he proved to be a core piece of building this team’s future around. In the past 20 years, only four players have scored 70 points or more in a Canadiens jersey. Domi joins Tomas Plekanec, Alex Kovalev and Saku Koivu who did it twice.

At the age of 23, it’s likely that Domi can continue to set career highs in the next few seasons. Before he does that, it would be wise for Bergevin to lock up Domi to a long-term contract.

Heading into next season, Domi will be earning $3.15 million. It is the last year of his two-year contract signed when he arrived in Montreal. A year from now, he will be a restricted free agent. That means Montreal has control over his future contract, but they are eligible to extend him as soon as July 1.

If Domi is not signed this summer and repeats his debut performance with the Canadiens, he will be looking for a huge payday in a year’s time. Restricted free agents used to be forced into shorter-term bridge contracts but times have changed quickly in the National Hockey League.

It is not uncommon for an RFA to get a huge payday, and there are a few recent comparable situations that the Canadiens could avoid if they act quickly.

Look no further than the mess the Toronto Maple Leafs got into dealing with winger/center William Nylander. He scored just over 60 points in back to back seasons and then held out until December 1st before signing a six-year contract with a cap hit just under $7 million. After holding out, Nylander’s first season was basically a write-off as he played well below expectations.

Not to pick on the Leafs too much (okay, I love picking on the Leafs), but they probably regret not signing Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner a year ago when they could have. Matthews ended up taking a five-year contract with an $11.634 million cap hit that could see him hit unrestricted free agency at 26 years old. Marner still hasn’t signed but could be looking for a similar cap hit after setting career highs in points once again.

Had the Maple Leafs acted last season, they could have saved themselves a total of $3-5 million per year on their future cap. Waiting the extra year just gave Matthews and Marner more time to establish themselves as stars and drove up their asking price.

The Montreal Canadiens should learn from their rivals misstep and sign Domi this summer. He has had a breakout season and is likely to match that output next season. If the Habs sign him right now, he would likely be willing to take a five or six-year deal around $6.5 million.