On July 2nd, the second day of free agency, Brad Treliving signed forward Max Domi to a 1-year, $3M deal for the upcoming season. It was called a homecoming of sorts for Max as he grew up around the Leafs when his dad, Tie Domi, played for the team in the 90's and early 2000's. Recently, Mitch Marner, who played with Domi on the London Knights in 2014/2015 sat down at his annual "Marner All-Star Invitational" charity event with NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger to discuss Brad Treliving's work so far as the Leafs' GM, his upcoming wedding and, of course, reuniting with Domi in Toronto.
"It's great! Max is a great player. But, just as important, he's a [heck] of a human being off the ice as well. I saw it firsthand in junior in both those cases. And it's going to be great for our team to have someone like that on it," Marner said about Domi.
"Max's playing abilities should match our system very well given how he plays the game, so we're pumped about it. We're excited to see how it works out with our team. It should be a lot of fun," Marner continued.
Domi and Marner played in the OHL with London during the 2014-15 season where both finished in the top-10 in points. Marner finished with 124 points, good enough for second, while Domi finished with 102 points which was good for ninth in league scoring.
It is yet to be seen whether they will be reunited from the beginning of training camp or not, but they will most likely see some time on a line together at some point in the upcoming season. Currently, many projections have Domi playing center on the third line and Matthew Knies playing alongside John Tavares and one of Mitch Marner or William Nylander. However, moving Domi to the second line could allow the Leafs to move Tavares to the wing, something that worked surprisingly well with Ryan O'Reilly. It would also give the Leafs an opportunity to play an all London Knights combo or Tavares/Domi/Marner if Sheldon Keefe wants to give it a whirl.
