Max Domi Trade Scenarios: 3 Possible Landing Spots
It appears that the asset carousel will continue to spin for the Columbus Blue Jackets as the NHL trade deadline looms. Max Domi who is slated to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, doesn’t appear to be a part of the organization’s future.
His two-year extension back in 2020 amounted to a prove-it deal, and the Blue Jackets were likely hoping that the former 12-overall selection would be able to cash in on his pedigree in Ohio. For a variety of reasons, that hasn’t materialized, and he’s now playing bottom-six minutes for the club.
Talking heads and pundits seem to be reading the writing on the wall here, and the belief is that Domi is available via trade. TSN.com recently updated their trade big board, and the Blue Jackets forward is ranked as the eighth-best player who could be acquired by a contender.
That noticeably places him ahead of names like Phil Kessel, J.T. Miller and Andrew Copp.
Domi will be an attractive option for playoff-bound clubs for a few reasons. When he’s healthy and engaged, he plays a hard, postseason-style game. He’s not afraid to go to the dirty areas to make things happen and is the kind of forward who can be a battery for his team.
No one is going to get him confused with wings who can drive their own unit, but with the right linemates, Domi could be a real boon for any acquiring team. His cap hit is also manageable, especially if Columbus agrees to eat half of the $5.3 million hit to accommodate a trade.
In fact, the Blue Jackets should actively hope that they are asked to take on some of that money. It’ll increase Domi’s trade value even further, allowing Columbus to perhaps add on another middish round draft pick to their asking price.
Domi has shown flashes of skill throughout his NHL career but has never been able to consistently put the pieces together. It’s not like he’s played for the best of teams since entering the league in 2015-16 as a 20-year-old, however.
He played top-six minutes for the Montreal Canadiens in 2018-19 and notched 72 points in 82 games, and Domi is young enough that a team will likely believe that they can tap into that player, if only for a short while during the playoffs.
Where could he possibly land, though? Let’s take a look at a few possibilities. Feel free to sound off in the comments down below and let us know what you think the Blue Jackets should ask for if they trade Domi, and where he could end up.
New York Rangers
We’ll start with the team that just might make the most sense in the New York Rangers. The Blueshirts went out and acquired Sammy Blais over the summer to skate as a top-six right wing. He tore his ACL back in mid-November, though, and the team has been looking for a forward ever since then.
TSN.ca reported that New York was looking for a “middle six” option all the way back on Nov. 19, and those whispers have steadily grown into loud chants as the season has progressed. New York is a near-lock to make the playoffs according to MoneyPuck.com, and is in the market for a rental.
That’s exactly what Domi is, and he’d immediately fit in on their second line. Dryden Hunt is playing alongside Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin after Kaapo Kakko was injured. He’ll be out at least another month according to Larry Brooks of The New York Post, perhaps increasing the temperature on Rangers general manager Chris Drury to get something done now.
It’s very likely that New York will look to add a right wing ahead of the deadline, so the Blue Jackets should be actively engaging them in discussions involving Domi. The Rangers have an extra second-round pick in the 2022 draft; perhaps that would be a solid starting point for the two clubs as they worked towards a potential deal.
Los Angeles Kings
Last week, on the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman speculated that Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake was going to attempt to add another scorer ahead of the deadline. The players ahead of Domi will likely require considerably more futures to acquire, so maybe there’s a fit here.
Dustin Brown is playing the right side in L.A. right now, but adding Domi to skate alongside Quinton Byfield could be of interest to the Kings. They haven’t been directly tied to the Blue Jackets forward, but the need is there and we definitely see a potential fit.
The Kings are at least one season—arguably two—ahead in their rebuild, and Blake hasn’t been shy about adding pieces that he belives can help Los Angeles win now. He proved that by signing Phillip Danault away from the Montreal Canadiens as a free agent this summer and by trading for right wing Viktor Arvidsson.
Those moves have paid off in spades for the Kings, who have nearly a 70 percent chance to make the playoffs in the Western Conference this season (again, according to MoneyPuck.com.) Domi probably wouldn’t have quite the same impact as someone like Jakob Chychrun, but he’d cost maybe a quarter of the assets to acquire comparatively.
And if it turned out to be a fit, who’s to say the Kings couldn’t re-sign him before he hits free agency. This is the kind of change of scenery that could be a boost for Domi, and it might be a fit for all parties concerned.
Nashville Predators
Here’s a team that was supposed to be on the downward swing in 2021-22. Over the offseason, there was even talk of this organization needing to enter a rebuild phase for the next few campaigns. The question was whether or not they should trade Filip Forsberg for futures, not whether or not they should add for a postseason run.
Yet here the Nashville Predators are, hitting the campaign’s home stretch with a really strong chance of making the playoffs. Odds are good that they’ll slip into a wild card spot, just because of how many games in hand the Minnesota Wild have, but an invite to the dance is an invite to the dance no matter what.
And anything can happen when you get there.
To contend with the likes of the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche in the postseason, Nashville will need to add some forward depth. Matt Duchene has rediscovered his old form skating on the first line and would be a finalist for the NHL’s bounceback player of the year award if it had one.
Meanwhile, breakout rookie Tanner Jeannot has been an equally pleasant surprise on the right wing as well. Still, Domi could slot in on the second or third line and be a potential boost to their scoring chances. The Predators rank 14th in the league in average goals scored per game, so they aren’t in the worst of shape.
But looking at who they’d need to climb over to get there, some help in the middle of the lineup would be beneficial. Nashville isn’t known for taking huge swings at the deadline, but adding Domi could be the kind of shrewd move that could help them in the short term without giving too much in the long term.