Craig Berube feels that Max Domi’s game has reached new heights lately

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has been impressed with forward Max Domi’s performance lately, specifically his ability to raise his level.

The 2024-25 campaign has seen the 30-year-old take a step back offensively with 28 points (six goals and 22 assists) compared to the year prior where he flirted with 50 points. There were flashes where everything had come together for Domi followed by lengthy droughts in between.

But things have started to click for Domi of late with four points (two goals and two assists) in his last four games, right around the time the intensity of the competition has ramped up.

“For me, I think Max Domi’s game has gone to another level and that’s the difference,” Berube said to reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “He’s way more aggressive. He’s being the player like we want him to be where he’s in people’s faces, he’s disrupting things, he’s using his speed. And he’s a playmaker, he can make plays. The guy can pass the puck. But for me, it’s about the skating.”

It started with a dominant shift on Thursday against the Florida Panthers where he laid a big open-ice hit on Carter Verhaeghe and then demolished Nate Schmidt in a fight at centre ice shortly after. Domi came up big later on that night with a breakaway goal to cut the deficit to one and got the crowd roaring as a result.

While the Leafs ultimately fell short to their divisional rivals, he gave his team a fighting chance with his tenacious play and desperation.

“His 200-foot play.  He was making plays in the D zone,” goalie Anthony Stolarz said after Thursday’s game. “He’s got one hell of a shot. When he can get it off and open space like that, he’s going to beat a lot of goalies. So hopefully this is the start of, a little hot streak for him and he gets a little confidence going forward here.”

Jumping ahead to Monday night when the Leafs were eager to end the lengthy skid, Domi got reunited with his most common linemates of Nick Robertson and Bobby McMann. Though there were questions about why the line was put together considering it meant dropping Scott Laughton to the fourth line, the trio each got on the scoresheet and were noticeable every time they stepped on the ice.

Berube knows that they can go on lengthy droughts but always feels compelled to put the line together because they can create magic offensively when they are clicking.

“You get a little combination, you get a little speed on the wings right? Robby finishes, he finished tonight. Max made some plays,” he said about what makes the line work after Monday’s win over the Calgary Flames. “But the line to me tonight, they had the hound mentality. I thought they were all skating, working, in the face of the other team, didn’t give them time and space and that was key to the line tonight, in my opinion.”

The Leafs will need all the help they can get from everyone in their lineup, not just their core four pieces. If they continue to get this high level of play from Domi going into the playoffs, it will go a long way to increase their chances of making a meaningful run in the playoffs.

He will look to build on his two-point night when he and the Leafs take on the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. EST.