Maple Leafs HC Craig Berube shares bluntly honest assessment of $15,000,000 star’s ‘up-and-down’ season

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube gave an honest view of Max Domi’s start to the season. In nine games this season, he has scored just one goal, has no assists, and has a minus-seven rating. This is concerning, in addition to his ice time dropping by a minute compared to last season.

Speaking to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, Berube said Domi’s play has been inconsistent. He mentioned that missing much of training camp and his health have slowed his progress.

“Up and down. Missed a lot of camp. That always hurts a guy a little bit. Just kind of not fully healthy, in my opinion,” Berube said.

The 30 year old forward is in the second year of a four year, $15 million contract with a $3.75 million cap hit. Although his numbers are low, he still works hard and brings energy to his role as the fourth-line center.

Last season, Domi played a reliable role for Toronto, finishing with eight goals and 25 assists for 33 points in 74 regular-season games. He added three goals and four assists in 13 playoff games, but the Leafs lost in the second round.

Over his career, Domi has played for several NHL teams, including Arizona, Montreal, Columbus, Carolina, Chicago, Dallas, and now Toronto. His ability to play both center and wing gives the Leafs flexibility throughout their lineup.

The Maple Leafs recently ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 overtime win against Buffalo on October 25. John Tavares scored his 499th career goal in that game, while Domi continued to struggle with a -2 rating and no points.

After the win, Berube praised the team’s overall effort and defensive play.

“Gritty win is kind of how I look at it,” Berube said, via NHL.com. “The difference for me tonight is we were better defending the odd-man rushes. … We were above things all night.
“It was a low-event game. You play teams like that, you have to make sure you are not giving those freebies up and we didn’t do that. Our guys played hard. I liked the jam they played with, physical, couple nice hits, a little bit [ticked] off.”

William Nylander: A game-time decision for Maple Leafs

Meanwhile, Maple Leafs forward William Nylander is a game-time decision for Tuesday’s game against the Calgary Flames. He missed Saturday’s matchup against Buffalo after being hit by Jason Zucker on Friday.

“He needs to feel right. It’s hard for him to know until game time, until warmup,” coach Craig Berube said Tuesday morning.

The Maple Leafs, now 4-4-1, will face the Calgary Flames (2-7-1) on Tuesday, October 28, at 6:00 p.m. EDT at Scotiabank Arena.

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Ankit is an NHL journalist at Sportskeeda with over 3 years of experience in the writing industry. He has expertise in sports, product, and travel content writing. His interest in ice hockey was piqued after watching Sidney Crosby play and he has been passionately following the game since then. Ankit admires Crosby’s personality and hockey IQ, and when he crossed the 1,500 points tally, Ankit was among the biggest fans to celebrate the occasion.

An Edmonton Oilers fan because of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Ankit also admires the Pittsburgh Penguins due to Crosby and the Colorado Avalanche for Nathan MacKinnon. He is also a fan of Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr.

Holding a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Language, Ankit believes his education has helped him develop a knack for presenting information in a precise and compelling manner. He only sources information from credible avenues and trusted people from his network for his articles.

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