As the 2024-25 regular season winds down and the Toronto Maple Leafs prepare for the playoffs, taking a look back at the regular season and assessing what went right and wrong is a fairly typical exercise.
Mitch Marner and John Tavares have had great seasons, the goaltending duo has been solid and the top players have done their jobs. However, focusing on errors, disappointments and miscalculated gambles, there have been a handful of underwhelming individual performances this season.
While there are a few candidates worth noting, the most disappointing season belongs to Max Domi.
Why Did Domi Win the Most Disappointing Season Prize?
After a solid season on a one-year, $3 million contract, the Leafs signed Domi to a four-year, $3.75 million per season extension in the offseason.
Expectations were high, as his job was to provide consistent secondary scoring in the middle six. He struggled to do so, taking big steps backward after getting the money and term he so desperately wanted. Domi has eight goals and 31 points in 71 games.
As Jonas Siegel of The Athletic points out:
“Not only has Domi, in the first year of a four-year contract, had two goal droughts of more than 20 games, he also hasn’t set up nearly as many goals as last season — fewer than half as many at five-on-five in fact. In Year 2 as a Leaf, Domi has taken significantly more penalties than he’s drawn, his giveaways have spiked, and he’s mostly struggled at third-line center.”
