Montreal Canadiens Must Extend Max Domi Now, Avoid Worst Case Scenario

The Montreal Canadiens have all of their players signed and ready for training camp. They should already be looking ahead to next offseason when one of their top players will be an RFA.

The Montreal Canadiens made a trade a year ago that was not well received by their fans. At least not immediately. They sent Alex Galchenyuk to the Arizona Coyotes for Max Domi. Domi was coming off his second consecutive nine goal season, while Galchenyuk had shown the ability to score 30 goals.

We heard more in the ensuing weeks about how many empty net goals Domi had scored in 2017-18 than his potential to be a goal scorer in 2018-19. It did not take long for Domi to prove any doubters wrong, as he repeatedly claimed a trade to a hockey-mad city like Montreal would bring out the best in him.

Domi certainly had his best season to date during his first year in Montreal. His top season in Arizona was his rookie campaign when he scored 18 goals and 52 points. In his lone season with the Habs, he scored ten more goals and 20 more points than he ever did with the Coyotes. Obviously, Domi was right when he told us playing in Montreal would bring out the best in him.

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Not only did he set career highs in almost every offensive category. He also did it while playing center after primarily being a left winger for the Coyotes. A move to the middle is supposed to result in an adjustment period for a young player to before he becomes comfortable. Domi looked more comfortable in the Canadiens’ opening game than he did in three years in the desert.

Before his breakout season, Domi signed a two year contract with the Canadiens. His cap hit is a minuscule $3.15 million when you compare it to his production and what other players that score 70 points are earning on the open market. At 24 years old, Domi is going to be a restricted free agent next summer, but the Canadiens would be wise to extend him long before that time comes.

If you look at the plethora of unsigned players today, it becomes obvious that young players are more willing than ever to draw a line in the sand and wait out their teams for a better offer.

We all saw the William Nylander debacle with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. The player wanted a long term deal around $7 million per year after he scored just over 20 goals and 60 points in consecutive seasons. Nylander was 22 at the time of his contract stalemate, and the Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas allowed it to drag well into the season. He finally relented and gave Nylander the contract he wanted on December 1st.

What followed was Nylander struggling to jump into the middle of a season after sitting out for over two months and missing training camp. He finished last season with just seven goals and 27 points in 54 games.

This is the absolute worst case scenario for a team that has a high profile restricted free agent. I also don’t think it is much of a coincidence that the very next offseason we see several great RFAs still looking for a fair contract in September.

Has there ever been a September in the past where players as good as Brayden Point, Mitch Marner, Matthew Tkachuk, Ivan Provorov, Zach Werenski, Mikko Rantanen, Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine, Brock Boeser and Charlie McAvoy are all unsigned?

No, there hasn’t. But Nylander led the way last summer and now many RFA’s are following his lead. No longer are players willing to take a “bridge” deal where they know they are being underpaid, but it is only for two or three years where they can really prove themselves. These players have proven enough already and know that they deserve to be well compensated.

Now we have a dozen or so teams that either have to cave in to the player’s wishes or risk starting training camp without one of their best players.

The Canadiens must avoid this situation a year from now with Domi. He brought so much to the team last season that not only would his offensive totals be missed if he sits out, but missing his presence in the dressing room and infectious work ethic would have a profound impact on the team if he were to be sitting at home waiting for a contract next November.

It is hard to sit out for any length of time and then jump into an NHL season where everyone is just hitting midseason form. We saw it from Nylander last season. he just wasn’t himself for the remainder of the year. The Canadiens can’t afford to have that happen with Domi.

What they have to do is make a serious offer that he can’t refuse right now to extend his contract. Domi has repeatedly said he loves playing hockey in Montreal. Of course, the only thing today’s athlete enjoys more than playing in a supportive market is cashing huge paycheques. If the Habs are going to lowball Domi and hope he takes an okay offer just because he likes Montreal, they are mistaken.

It is time to step up with a big offer. Something that will make Domi think long and hard about extending to stay in Montreal long term rather than play the wait-and-see game. Nylander got six years at just under seven million per year. Offering Domi seven years at $7.5 million per season would be enough to keep him in town for a long time.