Tenacity, "snot" and the desire to come home and produce were the driving forces in a one-year deal for the son of former Maple Leaf Tie Domi.
Brad Treliving wanted to make it clear that the signing of Max Domi had little to do with the fact that this father, Tie, played over 10 seasons with the club.
But it certainly couldn't hurt.
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"I really believe we're going to see the best version of Max," the Toronto Maple Leafs GM said of Domi. "He has been dying to play in Toronto for a long time. Having players where it means something for them to pull on that jersey is important."
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The Maple Leafs officially put pen to paper on a one-year deal with Domi worth $3 million on Monday.
Shortly after the news broke out, Domi tweeted 'home' with a photo of himself with his father from his playing days.
"He's ecstatic. He's a hockey dad and fan like anyone else," Domi said of his father's reaction to the news. "For myself personally, especially when he wasn't able to be part of a team that hoisted a Stanley Cup."
Max Domi lives and trains in Toronto during the offseason so he's already familiar with a lot of the Maple Leafs. Many different teammates have already reached out to him, including former London Knights teammate Mitch Marner, who shared an Instagram story of the two from their OHL playing days.
Domi was Treliving's fourth free-agent signing since the window opened on July 1. Toronto's GM cited speed and versatility as strength in the 5-foot-10 forward's game and is expected to help fill the void of secondary scoring that was missing before July seconds as free agent forwards Michael Bunting, Ryan O'Reilly and Alex Kerfoot found new homes with other clubs.
In addition to Domi, the Leafs signed Tyler Bertuzzi to a one-year, $5.5 million deal that should bring an edge to the team's top-six forward group.
"We need a bit of snot to our game. They both bring a little bit of that," Treliving said of Domi and Bertuzzi.
Where will Domi play?
Coming off a 20-goal season and 36 assists in 80 games, Treliving said he and head coach Sheldon Keefe have initially penciled him into the winger position. He can play center as well and his versatility was a consideration for the club in bringing him to Toronto.
But it's also his ability to produce in the playoffs that made Domi an easy signing for Toronto. Over the last two years, Domi has played in 33 playoff games split between the Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars. He has six goals and 13 assists in that span.
"He was an important player on a team that went on a long playoff run," Treliving said of Domi. "He has an understanding of what's important. It's not all about points."
What number will Domi wear?
Domi's father wore No. 28 but that number is occupied by forward Sam Lafferty. Domi has worn No. 13 for much of his career but that jersey is retired in honor of former captain Mats Sundin, who the Domis are close with.
Toronto unveiled the jersey numbers of all their new acquisitions on Monday and Domi will wear No. 11.
It wouldn't be surprising to see Max's father Tie show up to a lot of games this season to watch his son. And while the Leafs didn't sign him for the good story of playing where his dad played, there's certainly hope that it will motivate the tenacious forward.
"There's all that around but as I told Max this isn't a legacy signing, This isn't about anything other than we think we're going to get a really good player to help win games," Treliving said. "This isn't about signing a guy because he's got some really cute pictures in the Leafs room. Those things and the history I think will drive him.
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