When GM Brad Treliving took over the team this past offseason the quote that earned the most attention was the stated goal to add “snot” to the Toronto Maple Leafs. While the choice of words was memorable, this has been an area that many have criticised the Leafs for lacking during the Auston Matthews era. Since taking over, Treliving has certainly accomplished this goal, adding length and strength to the blueline, as well as the signing of Ryan Reaves as a heavyweight sheriff.
While these stylistic but limited additions have added a degree of ferocity, physicality, and intensity to the lineup, they have not been alone in morphing the disposition of the Leafs as a whole. To achieve a meaningful identity change, the Leafs needed to add this element throughout the entirety of the lineup, including within the top-nine forward group. Enter a pair of established NHL forwards in Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi.
While both players had uneven starts to their first seasons as Leafs, both have rounded into form down the stretch of the regular season. Even more than this, the pair of abrasive talents have found their stride on Matthews’ wings, forming the Leafs top line. While the Leafs have tried to add some of this sandpaper to the lineup before, Bertuzzi and Domi adorn the team’s most committed attempt at building a team with enough old-school toughness to go deeper in the playoffs. Let’s take a look at what both players bring to the lineup, as well as what we might expect from them going forward.
Both have great playmaking abilities
While their shared lack of teeth certainly act as an apt visual cue, and their willingness to get their hands dirty with an attitude is an endearing contrast to the Leafs high end players, a big reason for Bertuzzi and Domi’s success is their respective playmaking abilities. Both have other dimensions to their games, but as they bring their own playmaking styles and strengths, it is not exactly unexpected that they have performed so well on Matthews’ line.
Domi is a bit more overt in his passing skills, oftentimes trusting his ability to connect on passes with high degrees of difficulty instead of shooting. Domi has a deft touch, and a near obsession with saucer passes. With fantastic vision, Domi can often create open looks for teammates after finding them with bold seam passes through traffic. In many ways, Domi can effectively replicate Mitch Marner’s in-zone playmaking, which pairs well with Matthews as an elite shooting threat.
Unlike Marner, Domi might have something warts in his own zone, especially in exiting the zone, but can be an effective neutral zone attacker. Domi is fast enough to push the attack, making him a force while his team is on the rush. Though he requires some support, Domi is at his best with linemates who can win possession and capitalise off of his passing. Domi is greatly impacted by his chemistry with linemates, as without ideal skill sets to round out his game he can struggle. This has led to a lot of volatility over his time in the league, with his share of ups and downs.
| Player 1 | Player 2 | TOI | CF% | xGF% | GF% |
| Max Domi | Tyler Bertuzzi | 343.3 | 53.3 | 54.18 | 60 |
| Max Domi | w/o Tyler Bertuzzi | 598.9 | 48.69 | 47.62 | 56.45 |
| w/o Max Domi | Tyler Bertuzzi | 719.4 | 53.82 | 56.21 | 56.6 |
| w/o Max Domi | w/o Tyler Bertuzzi | 2167.2 | 49.8 | 50.07 | 53.55 |
Meanwhile, more covert are Bertuzzi’s playmaking talents. Bertuzzi thrives in traffic, either along the walls or at the net front. While Bertuzzi’s physicality is a factor here, his vision and hockey sense allow him to find teammates with quick, short, functional support passes, even without looking. Bertuzzi is able to make quick decisions under pressure, allowing him to turn contested pucks into control for his teammates.
While Bertuzzi does have some speed, this is leveraged into forechecking more than it is for carrying the puck through the neutral zone. Bertuzzi is able to win board battles up and down the ice, aiding in transition and creating turnovers. Similarly, Bertuzzi is an effective net front presence for the same reasons, making him an ideal off-puck offensive weapon. Bertuzzi certainly appreciates Matthews’ ability to carry the puck through the neutral zone, just as he appreciates Domi’s ability with the puck during in-zone offence.
Together, the trio of Matthews, Domi, and Bertuzzi bring a number of elements to the ice, complementing each other’s games with skills that play off of each other.
They can change the playoff trajectory
It is well known that as intensity is ramped up, the playoffs bring out a different style of hockey. Every inch is more contested, every battle more intense, and often every rule slackened. Especially as the Leafs top player, Matthews draws a ton of attention from playoff opponents. While his results in the playoffs haven’t been terrible, Matthews has found it particularly difficult to produce later in series when the game is at its most lawless.
Fortunately for the Leafs, there is hope that Domi and Bertuzzi can help turn this around. While broadly their abrasive dispositions help in this regard there is statistical evidence that supports this idea. Domi is coming off of a fantastic playoff run with the Dallas Stars last season, where he potted 13 points in 19 games. Much like his regular season production, Domi has had some ups and downs throughout his career in the playoffs, but at the very least he has shown the ability to perform in big moments.
Meanwhile, Bertuzzi has an even more impressive playoff history, dating back to his days in the OHL. Since being drafted in 2013, Bertuzzi has 25 points in 27 OHL playoff games, 39 points in 42 AHL playoff games, and 10 points in seven NHL playoff games after making his postseason debut last season, leading the Boston Bruins in points. As a player who thrives in traffic and conflict, this is hardly surprising for Bertuzzi.
While fitting Treliving’s mission statement of adding “snot” to the lineup, Bertuzzi and Domi’s impressive work in last seasons playoffs were doubtless big factors in the Leafs interest in signing them as free agents. Their line with Matthews has had success in the regular season, but there is good reason to believe that will continue into the playoffs.
Offseason implications
Naturally, how Bertuzzi and Domi, as well as the team as a whole, perform in the upcoming playoffs will be a big factor in how their future with the Leafs is evaluated. Barring catastrophe, it is very likely that the Leafs will be interested in re-signing both players this summer.
The Leafs famously have a lot of cap space tied up in their highest payed players, but with the NHL’s cap ceiling on the rise and some contracts ending, there will be a lot of cap space for Treliving to work with this offseason. The Leafs will have to pick and choose their priorities, but retaining both Bertuzzi and Domi is certainly possible if the Leafs really want to.
There are other factors at play, as the cap is rising for every team just as it is for the Leafs, and the added spotlight of playing in Toronto has gotten many players paid before. It is possible that Bertuzzi and Domi are offered significantly more money elsewhere, but there is something context to consider. Both chose to sign with the Leafs last offseason, and now finding themselves succeeding in key roles their affinity towards the team fit has likely grown.
Domi has bounced around the league, having already played for seven different NHL teams throughout his career. Though he has appeared in the playoffs in three seasons, twice this came as a result of being dealt from a bottom feeder at the trade deadline. While Domi has been making this mercenary lifestyle work, it would not be shocking to see him prioritise some stability in location and team quality.
Bertuzzi, on the other hand, is on his third NHL team, being traded to the Bruins at last season’s trade deadline after spending his entire career with the Detroit Red Wings to that point. The Wings never qualified for the playoffs with Bertuzzi on the team. With his first opportunity to pick his destination, Bertuzzi opted for the Leafs, who offer a much better team than Bertuzzi has been accustomed to.
It probably helps that both Bertuzzi and Domi grew up in Southern Ontario, but the strength and consistency of the Leafs program is a factor in the appeal. With that said, while we can only guess what contracts they will command it is likely that the Leafs could choose to re-sign both players this summer, whether or not they will decide to spend their cap space that way remains to be seen.
The Leafs will have roughly $20M to work with this summer, but will have decisions to make on several other free agents. This group includes a number of significant players, from goalie Ilya Samsonov, to defencemen T.J. Brodie, Ilya Lyubushkin, Joel Edmundson, and Timothy Liljegren. With a large contingent of forwards already signed for next season, a number of whom have some sort of trade protection, it might not make a lot of sense to spend more on forwards. Quite simply the Leafs have bigger question marks in net and on the blueline, and that roughly $20M of cap space can disappear quickly even before considering any new signings.
The Leafs have a bit more on the horizon up front than they do on the back end as well. Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan might not be ready to make the NHL roster out of training camp next season, but Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson, and Pontus Holmberg are still pushing their way up the lineup.
Already costing the Leafs a combined $8.5M against the cap, a raise to the combined cap hit of Domi and Bertuzzi makes the equation dicey. While continued cap growth will begin to alleviate the tight bottle neck created by the cap’s pandemic stagnation, as will, presumptively, a pay decrease for John Tavares the following season (2025–26), finding the right cap hit and term for Bertuzzi and Domi might be tougher to navigate than it seems. In all it is fairly safe to assume that most of Leafs Nation is hoping to keep both Bertuzzi and Domi beyond this season.
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