A phone call that awakened Max Domi on Thursday afternoon turned his pre-game nap into a pre-trade nap.
A few hours earlier, Domi had taken morning skate with the Blackhawks and “fully thought” he would play that night against the Stars, even as rumors swirled. But Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson ended up trading him to the Stars instead.
“I got the call as I woke up from my nap,” Domi said Friday. “Davidson says, ‘Hey, we’re going to hold you out of the lineup. There’s a couple teams that are interested in you. I can’t tell you much else, but just come to the [arena] to watch the game.’ I said, ‘OK, cool.’”
“I had a pretty good idea, by the time I got there, it was Dallas from all the reports out there. But the deal didn’t officially go through until later on in the night, so I wasn’t able to fly back [to Dallas] with the team.”
In the wake of the Patrick Kane trade, the Domi move felt almost inconsequential from an outside perspective, but it obviously didn’t feel that way to him — especially because it happened the exact day he turned 28.
“It was one of the crazier days I’ve been a part of,” he added. “A combination of getting some birthday texts and trying to figure out what was going on in terms of my future.”
It wasn’t inconsequential from a return perspective, either, with the Hawks getting a 2025 second-round pick back while also swapping AHL goalies Dylan Wells and Anton Khudobin.
Davidson had been receiving calls about Domi “pretty consistently” throughout the week. But once the Kane move — which had occupied up the vast majority of his attention — was completed, and also once the Stars increased their offer to a second-round pick, he decided to progress forward with negotiations.
“We also like what Max brought,” Davidson said. “[But] sometimes the value that comes your way is something you can’t pass up.”
The Stars might have been wooed by Domi’s terrific two-goal, three-point performance in Dallas last week, too. Domi said he “would assume it had something to do with it.” Kane texted him Friday from New York and mentioned the same thing.
Now the intrigue shifts to this summer, when Domi is still set to become an unrestricted free agent again.
Players getting traded and then re-signing with their original team is a concept that gets talked about much more often than it actually happens. But Domi is one case where it legitimately could make sense. That doesn’t mean it’s likely, but it wouldn’t be surprising either.
Davidson evaded a question about it — presumably to avoid tampering — but Richardson said he would “absolutely” support it, although he’s not the one who makes those decisions.
“He loved the city and the team — and it showed,” Richardson said. “He played with passion.
“I told him I’d love him to come back. We’ll have to see what we end up with, what kind of prospect pool is coming in and who’s available in the summer. But he has shown he fits in here really well. That’s always a good option, for sure.”
Domi’s present focus has understandably (and correctly) shifted to the Stars’ upcoming playoff run. He debuted on their second line alongside Tyler Seguin on Saturday against the Avalanche.
But he still lauded praise on Richardson — to whom he “owes a lot” for putting “a lot of trust” in him — and the Hawks.
“It’s a tough part of the season to lose all your buddies like that and then yourself get traded, too,” Domi said. “But [I have] nothing but great memories in Chicago. I know it was really short, but it was a huge honor to wear that jersey.”