DOMI BACK WITH HABS
Centre weighed health risk
After a week of weighing the possible risks to his health associated with COVID -19, Max Domi decided to join the Canadiens for Phase 3 of the NHL’S Return to Play plan.
Domi was on the ice for training camp at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard Monday morning, ending speculation over whether he would play in the NHL post-season, which is Phase 4.
Before the start of Phase 3 training camp last Monday, Domi asked the Canadiens for 7-10 days to assess his situation. Domi is a Type 1 diabetic and also deals with celiac disease. Both conditions require him to strictly monitor his diet and also make him more susceptible to autoimmune diseases.
The return of Domi provides coach Claude Julien with opportunity, but also the challenge of how to put all the parts together on his forward lines.
On Monday, Domi skated at centre on the fifth line with Laurent Dauphin and Alex Belzile as his wingers. Julien said he was giving Domi some time to catch up with his teammates.
“We have a program in place to gradually build the guys up to be in better shape,” Julien said. “Well, he’s just jumped into the second week when the guys have a pretty good pace. The pace was a challenge for him. We saw it with the guys in the first week. The first day, the second day, they got better and so forth. He’ll get better as we go forward. Max is going to be honest when he tells you it was a tough practice ... and we’re gonna tell you, from a coaching viewpoint, he did a good job for his first day.”
Domi will be a top-nine forward when the Canadiens open the bestof-five playoff qualifying round against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Aug. 1 in Toronto, but the question for Julien on Monday was whether Domi will be a centre or a winger.
“He can play both,” Julien said. “That’s the good part about a lot of the players we have, there’s a versatility to their game. I keep saying it over and over again, anybody that can play centre can play wing. But someone who’s never played the centre position and has only played wing may have a harder time (playing centre).”
If Domi plays centre, it will affect Jesperi Kotkaniemi and, possibly, Nick Suzuki.
Kotkaniemi has been drawing raves since training camp began because of his improved skating and shooting. The 20-year-old appears to be bigger and stronger. He’s skating at centre on the third line with Artturi Lehkonen and Paul Byron and it figures that Domi will slide into that spot.
Kotkaniemi could drop down to the fourth line, but Jordan Weal and Jake Evans would probably get the nod ahead of him because they are better defensively and can also kill penalties. These are important considerations against a high-powered offensive team like the Penguins.
The other alternative is to find a spot for Kotkaniemi on the wing, which would make him available for ice time on the power play.
Suzuki is likely to stay at centre on the No. 2 line with Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia because he is more defensively responsible than Domi.
Defencemen Brett Kulak and Xavier Ouellet continue to be absent from training camp and that’s a concern because Kulak was pencilled in for a top-four role as Jeff Petry’s partner. Goaltender Michael Mcniven left practice early on Monday after he was hit in the mask by a shot from Shea Weber.
Meanwhile, there is still a fiveman group — including first-line centre Phil Danault — practising before the main session.
Ryan Poehling, who is also in the five-man group, shed some light on the situation when he said the Canadiens were following an NHL directive. But, of course, nobody can talk about it because of NHL guidelines. The best guess is the players are practising on their own because they were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID -19.
Victor Mete, Cayden Primeau and Cale Fleury are the other members of the five-man group.
That’s the good part about a lot of the players we have, there’s a versatility to their game. I keep saying it over and over again, anybody that can play centre can play wing.