Maple Leafs fans are scared of the Chayka and Domi friendship, but they have it completely wrong
Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Some people are worried that Max Domi isn't going anywhere due to his friendship with John Chayka but it's not exactly what it seems on the surface.
While things can change at a moment's notice, the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to hire Mats Sundin as their VP of Hockey Operations (or a similar role) as well as bringing in former Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka.
There's a bit of debate over Chayka with regard to his fit for GM given his controversial past, distance from the game over the past six years, and someone who doesn't necessarily rub people the wrong way right way at times — such as former Maple Leaf Jay Rosehill.
Chayka built Arizona on analytics and could be the key to unlocking Max Domi once again
But there's also concern that with Chayka coming in, and his relationship with both Tie and Max (the former potentially part of the front office) is going to lead to a lot more focus on Domi himself, and unless he suddenly turns things around; it's not good.
Which is exactly what James Mirtle brought up, but noted that there is a deep rooted friendship between Chayka and Domi, which started back in the OHL and extended when Domi was in Arizona:
Chayka and Domi are really close. They’ve been close since Domi was with the London Knights, and they were really good friends.
They were together in Arizona when Chayka was the GM, so I would be surprised if Domi was going anywhere. With his contract, the season he had, and his no-trade clause, he probably is not going anywhere, but this just adds even more job security for him.
They were together in Arizona when Chayka was the GM, so I would be surprised if Domi was going anywhere. With his contract, the season he had, and his no-trade clause, he probably is not going anywhere, but this just adds even more job security for him.
For those who were hoping for Domi to be traded, sorry about your luck. But as bad as it looks on the surface, there is a huge positive to take away from this.
With Chayka and Domi so close, he could be the angel on his shoulder and give him some extra motivation. You don't wanna let your friend down right? Domi may feel that he needs to step up his overall game in order to keep favour with his old pal.
He was drafted by him, had a fantastic rookie season and continued on with a fairly solid two-way game despite being defensively weaker, and translated that into two great years with Montreal. Chayka set him up to succeed and gave him every opportunity to get things done.
Now with 700+ NHL games under his belt, Domi knows what he needs to do in order to get back on track and he could feel a bit like his rookie self with Chayka in tow.
Domi at his best is a top-six threat and Chayka has the blueprint to get him back
Let's be honest though, Domi is not that bad of a player. He's not going to blow you away, but as a top-six complement he's solid; especially alongside Auston Matthews.
If Chayka can get Domi to start shooting more and using his past data as an example, it could give Domi a leg up. He was shooting a lot more frequently in Arizona and Montreal, and it's been something Craig Berube tried to get him to do more as well — clearly he's talented.
The first five seasons of his career he actually had above average possession numbers, and had a very respectable 7.4 defensive point-share; he was not a bad defender nor dumb with the puck.
Chayka knows what worked in Arizona, he gave Domi a veteran in Antoine Vermette (a long forgotten name in the NHL) as well as Mikkel Bodker; another up and coming rookie. It was one solid reliable name alongside two young guns.
With Domi as the reliable veteran, perhaps putting him with two young guns in Nick Robertson and Easton Cowan would do the trick. While they both aren't teens like Bodker and Domi, Cowan is only 20 and Robertson is still away from his prime.
Domi is a playmaker at heart, but he's a scoring threat. He can feed the puck to Robertson and take shots with Cowan's help.
Is that the smallest line in history? Maybe, but it also has a dog in Robertson, a rat in Cowan, and wise owl in Domi; they can do some serious damage.
So much like Mats Sundin coming back into the fold, what's old is new again. So John Chayka needs to remind Domi what it was like in Arizona because it may come with some surprises along the way.
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Previously on Hockey Patrol