After taking several days of the Phase 3 portion of the NHL’s return to play to evaluate the situation, Max Domi has decided to join the Montreal Canadiens. He took the ice on Monday with his teammates for practice.
Max Domi est sur la glace à Brossard pour l’entraînement @CanadiensMTL
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) July 20, 2020
As a Type-1 diabectic, Domi is at increased risk of severe illness should he contract COVID-19. News that several Habs players had tested positive for the coronavirus (though some of those were later revealed to be false positives) surely made the decision more difficult, especially with the conspicuous absences of two defencemen from the offical Phase 3 roster, but he clearly feels relatively safe in joining the team with the health protocols in place.
Should the playoffs get under way, Domi will play the first post-season game of his NHL career after five seasons in the league. He does have some catching up to do after his teammates have been taking part in drills and scrimmages for a week or more already. The next event on his schedule once the Canadiens’ playoff run concludes will be a contract negotiation, as his current deal expires at the end of this season.
Domi participated in drills with the second power play unit at practice. He also skated with Alex Belzile and Laurent Dauphin.
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Canadiens lines, July 20: Five players remain separated, Domi returns
