Unique Opportunity Could Result in Career Year For Maple Leafs Fan Favourite

It was always going to be a "by committee" approach for the Maple Leafs to supplement the offence lost by the departure of Mitch Marner.

Sure, none of the additions GM Brad Treliving has made yet may scream "top six", but they have had fairly productive seasons as recently as two years ago.

Nicolas Roy, Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua can all contribute to the replacement of Marner's 102 points, but the Leafs may have had the solution internally all along.

Fan-favourite Max Domi is yet to have a clear and defined role in the Leafs' forward group through two seasons and two coaches. Much has been made of the former first-round pick's struggles in his two seasons with the Leafs so far, with with some suggesting he may be traded at some point to free up some cap space.

However, after not scoring until December during his first season in Toronto, and an underwhelming first half of the season, Domi was moved onto Auston Matthews' wing for much of the second half of the 2023-24 season. It was there that he collected more than half of his 47 points that season.

Over his career, Domi has 4 seasons where he collected 15 or more goals, including a career-high 28 to go along with 72 points during the 2018-19 season with the Montreal Canadiens.

During the 2018-19 season, Domi had a defined role as a center for the Habs and although he has never been seen as a great middle-man, the defined role allowed him to focus on playing the game and not having to worry about where or who he would be lining up with night in and night out.

If the 30-year-old can successfully land a spot on Matthews' wing to begin the season and find some consistency and continued chemistry there, Domi could be poised to recreate his 28-goal, 72-point campaign from years ago -- perhaps even exceed it.