Key Points
- Maple Leafs forward Max Domi sustained a lower-body injury during offseason training and is listed as day-to-day.
- With Domi's status uncertain for the start of training camp, rookie Matias Maccelli could get an early look on the first line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies.
- Head coach Craig Berube said he's looking for a player with strong passing skills to fill the role left vacant by Mitch Marner. Both Domi and Maccelli fit that description.
Following the departure of Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Vegas Golden Knights, one of the biggest questions facing the team was who would fill the role on the top line. It now seems it will be one of two players, at least to start: Max Domi or Matias Maccelli.
However, as Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving took the podium for his season-opening news conference, he disclosed that Domi sustained a tweak during offseason training and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
"We'll see how he is tomorrow," Treliving said. "We anticipate he's probably not going to start full tomorrow, but hopefully shortly thereafter he will be good to go. So, with that, fire away".
If Domi is not on the ice, it will be interesting to see if Maccelli, whom the Leafs acquired this summer in a trade with the Utah Hockey Club, is grouped with top liners Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies.
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Matias Maccelli is ready to put the summer workouts and informal skates behind him and get into Toronto Maple Leafs training camp.
"Max not being able to hit the ice tomorrow certainly impacts it a little bit, but I don't think he'll be too long and he'll be back out there," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. "He's definitely one of the guys that we consider getting a look there and see what he can do".
Berube continued, noting the need for a playmaker on the line. "Obviously, we're looking for, with Matthews and Knies, they formed some great chemistry last year, but with a guy like Mitch out of the lineup, you're looking for somebody that can make some plays and guys that can pass the puck, a little give and go with Matthews and Knies".
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When Mitch Marner arrived in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization as a tantalizing prospect 10 years ago, there were a lot of unknowns.
Maccelli finished fourth in Calder Trophy voting in 2023 after scoring 11 goals and adding 38 assists in 64 games with the Arizona Coyotes. Domi has also established chemistry with Matthews, as they played the final stretch of the 2023-24 season on a line together following an injury to Mitch Marner in March 2023. When Marner returned, then-head coach Sheldon Keefe elected to keep Domi and Matthews together for much of the 2024 playoffs.
Berube sees strong passing as a key attribute for the role. "In my head, I look at Domi and Maccelli [as] two guys that... they're great passers, right? They can pass the puck and make plays, and I think that's what that line needs. You've got to make a play, so that's what I'm looking at right now"
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'Definitely An Issue We Got To Talk About': Will The Maple Leafs Scratch Max Domi After Repeated Undisciplined Penalties?
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Max Domi was <a href="https://x.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1922812450308554774">in disbelief when his slash</a> on Matthew Tkachuk was called midway through the second period of their 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers.
The coach acknowledged that it's a process, stating, "Will it work? I don't know, I gotta see it. I gotta, you know, it takes a little time to form chemistry and things like that".
A lot could change between now and when the puck drops on the regular season on October 8. Just because Domi and Maccelli may get the first look, it doesn't mean the first-line question is settled.
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