The future of the Montreal Canadiens lies with Max Domi
By Omar L
Wing or Centre?
It’s clear Domi performs better at centre than on the wing. He was playing down the middle when he was at his peak in 2018 and couldn’t get things going when he moved to the wall in favour of Nick Suzuki.
The Habs may be grooming Ryan Poehling to play left wing, but what does that mean for Jesperi Kotkaniemi? Montreal could leave him in the AHL with the Laval Rocket for the entire season, and it wouldn’t get rid of the lineup at centre. Kotkaniemi isn’t a fourth-line player, but in this scenario, he would be the fourth person.
Something would have to give at that point. Is it Danult that goes or Domi?
If Domi plays on the wing, then the Habs would be alright with running some kind of mashup with Kotkaniemi, Suzuki and Danult down the middle. The problem here is that the 25-year-old made it clear in an interview with Lapresse where he’d like to play saying:
"The coaches make the decisions and if I have to play the left or the right wing in the center I will do it for the good of the team. But I really like to play in the center. I didn’t think I could play it because I spent my career on the wing. I never imagined enjoying myself so much. It’s a completely different position (translated)."
As Domi said in the quote, if Claude Julien wants him to play on the wing, that’s where he’ll play. That doesn’t ignore the clear preference and the sample size from this season of him playing at centre.