It became clear over time that Max Domi and Claude Julien’s relationship hit the rocks after the former’s ice time was cut in the playoffs, and it wasn’t surprising to see him get traded over the offeason. But as Julien explained in a Zoom call with the media, the 25-year-old was not demoted to the team's fourth line for what he wasn’t doing, but rather what some of the team’s other young talent were.
Julien noted that Domi became expendable due to the stellar play of youngsters Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi during his absence at training camp. Domi, a Type 1 diabetic who also has Celiac disease, took an additional week in July to decide whether or not it would be safe for him to join the team for training camp.
Julien said the following in his first Zoom call with the media on the situation:
"You talk about (Nick) Suzuki, (Jesperi) Kotkaniemi, two young centers that the organization really wants them to succeed. When we started training camp, obviously Max wasn't there for the first week, so we put our group together, we started, and all of a sudden we see both those guys, especially Kotkaniemi, really doing well."
As for Domi’s side of things? Well, he definitely seems to have some harsh feelings towards his former head coach.
Domi was ultimately traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a packaged deal for power forward Josh Anderson and both should fit in nicely on their new squads. If reports of the league going with an all-Canadian division next year come to fruition, then we’ll have to wait for the forward and head coach to meet again in the playoffs.
Expect him to have a little extra gas in the tank for that one if they happen to ultimately square off against each other.
