As soon as Max Domi signed with Chicago just minutes into free agency last summer, the expectation was that he’d be traded at the deadline when there wasn’t much money left on his one-year, $3MM contract. However, in a recent 32 Thoughts appearance, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports (video link) that it’s not a guarantee that Domi moves. He’s enjoying a nice bounce-back year with the Blackhawks, collecting 11 goals and 13 assists in 36 games so far, good for second on the team in scoring. He’s also winning draws at a career-best clip of 56.3%. If he’s happy in his role and having some success, it may make more sense for Chicago to try to extend the 27-year-old. That’s a discussion GM Kyle Davidson is expected to have with Domi’s representation in the coming weeks.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- A pair of Kraken prospects are on the move in the CHL. OHL London announced that they’ve acquired forward Ryan Winterton from Hamilton as part of a four-player trade. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick (67th overall) in 2021 and has 46 points in 37 games so far this season. Meanwhile, Sherbrooke of the QMJHL announced the acquisition of winger Jacob Melanson from Acadie-Bathurst. The 19-year-old has 25 goals in just 27 games this season. Both prospects have already signed their entry-level contracts with Seattle.
- The Red Wings will extend Jakub Vrana’s conditioning stint by three more games, relays MLive’s Ansar Khan (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has already played in three games and was held off the scoresheet and the team feels he could benefit from a longer stretch in the minors. This is the only extension that Detroit can give Vrana; he’ll have to be recalled once these three games are up.
- The Devils announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon to AHL Utica. He was recalled last week for his second stint with the big club this season but didn’t get into a game with New Jersey; his last NHL appearance came back in January 2017. So far this season, the 29-year-old has two goals and seven assists in 23 games with the Comets.
The fact there are no comments on this shows that you guys need to promote this arm of MLBTR more because the writing and timeliness is spot on in comparison with the big hockey networks. Promote!
@drew ford—I agree with you regarding the quality of writing here, but some articles don’t get comments because there’s not a lot there to spark discussion. That’s not a fault with the authors here, just that sometimes the subject matter can be on the bland side. And, there could very well be a game or two in progress that warrants undivided attention, either from the TV or Radio side.
I like this site, because I don’t do Twitter, and they’re pretty timely with updates and news, especially around the trade deadline. Unfortunately the comments sometimes get off topic, and degenerate into flame wars, as social media often does.
@KRB—I’m glad to see you have the same attitude towards Twitter. I only go there on a “read-only” basis, when the site’s writers have a topical link, and it is restricted in its own container in my browser. Do the comments sometimes get off-topic? Yep, but that’s part of the territory here. When it gets really crazy, OPS can shut things down, and has done so for certain topics. Hockey conversation has caused flame wars for decades, for better or worse. It can be aggravating at times, to be sure.
Hockey fans is da cwaziest peoples. Just shows they’re passionate. If you can’t take the flame wars, you get out of the kitchen.
@KRB—I’d say that pretty much sums it up. :)
It does make sense for the Hawks to hang onto Domi, but only by the same token that it made all the sense in the world to hang on to Alex DeBrincat. Chicago’s in for some painful years, and they’re not coming out of it before Domi’s on the wrong side of 30.
Yup. I cannot imagine a scenario where Chicago doesn’t sell high on Domi. That was the plan all along for both Domi and the Hawks. He signed there because it was the best place to get top line minutes and boost his stats by playing with Kane thereby earning him more money on his next contract. At the deadline they will flip him to a contender for something like a second round pick. Win-win.
I enjoy watching DeBrincat in a Sens uniform
@sensfan—You should. Now, the burning question there will be whether he will share the same feeling and if GMPD will do right by him. Chicago’s loss should be the Sens’ gain, but we’ll have to wait and see on this one.
Eh, trade him for Seth Jones, a position of need. LOL
The Hawks traded DeBrincat for the same reason the Sens will. He’s not going to sign an extension and wants to be a FA. Don’t know how it’s going to work out for him this off season as the Cap is only going to make a small jump this year but it’s supposed to make a real jump in future years. Ottawa will get less of a return though as the acquiring team will only get a half year of him, and all the good teams in hockey he’d want to play for are mostly hovering around the cap for years already. Hey Good Luck though.
It will be interesting to see if Francis decides to break up the chemistry in Seattle to go get a top end goalie
You guys gotta fact check a little better, even just minor details. I mean if you’re gonna bother to post about an OHL trade, might as well properly include that Winterton hasn’t even played this season due to injury, rather than lazily list his point total from last season