Équipe: 2020-21 Canadiens de Montréal

Date de création initiale: 17 sept. 2020

Publié: 24 sept. 2020

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

First of all, I don't know what Domi is asking for obviously or if he even wants to sign with MTL long term. What I do know is there is an excellent comparable for Domi in Tyler Johnson, who signed a 7 yr contract extension worth an average of $5M / season. Johnson signed this after putting up 72 pts (79 GP) and following it up with 38 pts (69 GP) and 45 pts (66 GP). Domi just put up 72 pts (82 GP) and 44 pts (71 GP), and while we can't project what he will do next season, his career average PPG would project 44 pts in a 66 game season, which is almost identical to Johnson. They are both undersized centers / wingers. This comparison is bang on.

What also needs to be taken into consideration is that Johnson likely took a bit of a discount to stay with a competitive team and/or taxes helped with negotiations. There is also a cap inflation of about 8% which would put the same contract at $5.4M / yr. There is a counter argument that COVID will negatively impact the free agent market as well though, so I believe that cancels out the tax advantage.

Johnson's contract was 7 yrs, Domi's is 8 years, however both players will be 33 when their deals would expire and Johnson signed a 3 yr bridge vs Domi signing a 2 yr bridge. If you factor the past season of Johnson's bridge deal into the 8 years it would technically be an average of ~$4.8M / season.

With all of that being taken into consideration, what do you guys think? I think its a fair deal for both sides. Domi gets $43M guaranteed. Habs get a guy who can be a staple in their middle 6 of the lineup in an offensive role. I personally see Domi and Caufield potentially being an excellent duo moving forward so I would like to see the team resign him.

I'd also like to see what Kotkaniemi would look like on the RW with Suzuki and Drouin. He is turning into a physical sniper, so maybe putting him here would create the big scoring winger MTL is after. In Laval, KK and Evans actually shared center responsibilities on the first line (being a leftt and a righty) maybe KK and Suzuki could do the same. This would slot Domi in as 3C, but I would give him Gallagher and Lehkonen to basically form the Lehkonen/Domi/Shaw line MTL had in 2018-19. This would put Kovalchuk with Danault and Tatar, Kovalchuk had 8 pts in 8 games playing on this line while Gallagher was injured. I honestly think having Danault and Gallagher on the same line is a bit of an overkill, splitting them up would help balance the energy throughout the lineup.

Just some ideas, may not work, so alternative lineup (less outside the box ideas):
Drouin - Suzuki - Armia
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Domi - Kotkaniemi - Kovalchuk
Byron - Evans - Lehkonen

The point is there are plenty of options if Domi is resigned, they do not have to trade Domi just because he is better at C. Center is finally a position of stenght in MTL and now we think we need to get rid of a center. Just move one to wing and if there is an injury we have it covered.

2021-22 Outlook:
- Resign Danault: ~ $5M × 7 yrs
- Resign Gallagher: ~ $5.75M × 6 yrs
- Resign Petry: ~ $6M × 2 yrs

^^^ All 3 players are taken to age 35 where they are then eligible for performance bonuses (helps them sign new deals without affecting the cap).

- Resign Armia: ~ $3.75M × 4 yrs
- Resign Allen: ~ $2.5M × 2 yrs

^^^ Depth moves, important but less crucial.

- Sign Caufield

- Tatar gone, Domi likely replace him on wing, Domi is younger and can play center if needed.

- Bridge KK (~ $4M?) and Lehkonen (~ $2.5M?), hard to say without seeing their 2020-21 performances first.

Possible Lineup:
Drouin - Suzuki - Armia
Domi - Kotkaniemi - Caufield
Lehkonen - Danault - Gallagher
Byron - Evans - XXX
XXX / XXX

Romanov - Weber
Edmundson - Petry
Chiarot - Mete
Juulsen

Price
Allen

(Kulak likely taken in the expansion draft)

Projected Capspace: ~$500K with a 23 man roster ($81.5M cap).

Projected 2021-22 Powerplay:
Drouin (L)
Caufield (R) - Armia (R) - Suzuki (R)
Petry (R)

Domi (L)
Weber (R) - Gallagher (R) - Kotkaniemi (L)
Romanov (L)

Alternative lineup (KK RW):
Drouin - Suzuki - Kotkaniemi
Lehkonen - Danault - Gallagher
Domi - Poehling - Caufield
Bryon - Evans - Armia

This will be last post until next season, a lot is likely going to change by then.