It's been a week since the Habs announced that they decided to give Max Domi 7 to 10 days to decide if he'd join the team in the bubble and so far, there are no news on the front. Not a word from the man himself, nothing on his Twitter or his Instagram yet about coming back to Montreal. Mind you, he could just join the team in Toronto without going back to Montreal I guess since the Covid numbers are worst there...
This is not an easy call for Domi, his type 1 diabetes makes him more likely to develop complications should he contract Covid-19, which means this could be a question of life and death for him. To make matters worst, his contract is up after the end of the season and he'll need to negotiate a new deal coming off an underwhelming season. Add to that the fact that he's never played in the playoffs but has always been very vocal about his desire to play when the stakes are high and you get one big headache.
Furthermore, while Domi is not at camp, he is more than likely keeping a close eye on proceedings and he can see that Nick Suzuki is settling in nicely as the team 2nd centre while Jesperi Kotkaniemi is looking like a man on a mission right now and trying to stake his claim on the 3rd centre spot. It has been blatantly obvious this season that Domi wants to play at centre and not on the wing, but if he doesn't play in the qualifying round, the two youngsters will have all the space necessary to show what they can do and they wil definitely gain some valuable experience. That being said, whether he likes it or not, where he will play isn't up to Domi, this is Claude Julien's decision. So far, the bench boss has refused to speculate as to how his line-up will be affected should Domi rejoin the team but he has clearly been impressed by both Suzuki and Kotkaniemi.
Quand Max Domi sort les mains ! ✋ðŸ–ðŸ‘ðŸ‘#GoHabsGo #Habs #CH pic.twitter.com/lrZPC1BWpE
— LNH (@LNH_FR) February 23, 2020
Domi might also consider how healthy the team is, while they are not allowed to tell us whether some players are infected or not, both Kulak and Ouellet have been MIA for days and for 2 days now, the Habs have practiced in 2 groups. Philip Danault, Ryan Poehling, Victor Mete, Cale Fleury and Cayden Primeau have been skating together prior to the main group. There's no way to know why but it's got people wondering...
Meanwhile, Kaapo Kakko, who also suffers from type 1 diabetes, has joined the New York Rangers at camp and said this in an interview with the New Yok Post:
“Of course I wanted to play hockey again,… the 19-year-old said. “I talked to my doctors about that a little bit and I think if I keep my [blood sugar level] down, it’s going to be OK and I can play hockey, again.“I’m so young, my diabetes is OK right now, I just [have to] keep the sugar down, and it’s going to be OK.…
Of course, this is a very personal decision and Domi shouldn't be pressured into making it, but the clock is ticking and the deadline is fast approaching. Earlier this week, Claude Julien said that is he had to guess, he would think Domi would join the team but that was just his gut feeling. I don't know what Domi will decided but I do know that one way or another, everyone should just support his decision and just wish him the best.
And you wonder why @max_domi has a goal in six straight... 😱 pic.twitter.com/TVxq2to6Dg
— NHL (@NHL) January 1, 2020