The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to retool on the fly once the new management regime is in place, which does sound like it could be announced in the coming days. If all the reports are indeed true, and John Chayka and Mats Sundin are leading the charge, don’t expect to see Maple Leafs forward Max Domi dealt this offseason.

It’s no secret that the Domi family and the Sundin family are extremely close. With Max’s father, Tie, and Sundin being teammates and best friends for quite some time now, Max considers Mats a second father figure. How exactly can you take over a job, and the first thing you do is trade essentially your god son? There’s no chance it’s going to happen.

Sundin’s been linked to a Vice President of Hockey Operations role in Toronto, as Keith Pelley gains steam towards the end of his recruitment process to reconstruct the front office. It’s a huge jump for Sundin, who has always been in the background as a trusted resource for the organization, and often celebrated throughout each season, however, he spends most of time in Sweden, and out of the spotlight. Now, he’s going to be running the Leafs with Chayka and under a ton of scrutiny? What a change of course it would be for the hall of famer.

Domi has two seasons left on his contract at $3.7 million AAV, and considering his inconsistent play over his Leafs’ tenure, was certainly someone a lot of general managers or VP’s would considering moving off this roster during a retool. Domi’s been used with Auston Matthews at right wing on the top line, but with Matthews asking for more bite up front during his exit interview, you’d have to think he was referring to getting some more size to complement his line. Domi’s never really had a secure home in Craig Berube’s lineup, or a definitive role, so Sundin aside, the Leafs really should be considering moving Domi for either a puck-moving defenceman, or a gritty third-line centre. But again, if Sundin is signing off on transactions, regardless of the data Chayka finds on Domi, it’s extremely unlikely a move transpires this summer.

“He means everything to me, man” Domi said about Sundin during the Leafs visit to Sweden for the 2023 Global Series. “He’s just one of the best, if not the best Maple Leafs of all time, and he earned it all. So, he was my favorite player and the guy I’ve looked up to my entire life for that exact reason.”

“He was a very close family friend of ours and is like family to me to this day. He was one of my dad’s best friends. So yeah, he’s a huge part of my life and a big reason why I fell in love with the game of hockey and a big reason I was and still am a Leafs fan. And yeah, you’ve got to give him a lot of credit for my development in a lot of ways. And whether it’s on the ice or off the ice, the advice he always gave me, well, the list goes on. I’m just very, very grateful and thankful for our relationship.”

Imagine Sundin moves Domi at the 2026 NHL Draft for a third-round pick? It just doesn’t seem like an option at this point, however, if Keith Pelley and company go in a different direction, or, let’s say Sundin has a change of heart and pulls himself out of the interview process, that’s where Domi’s tenure as a Leaf could be in question. Chayka doesn’t have any ties to Domi, and we’ve seen his loyalty questioned in the past from his time in Arizona anyways, so the Leafs’ forward would certainly skyrocket up the chart of likely trade candidates this offseason in Toronto.

If Domi wants to stick around Toronto, he better hope Sundin takes the job. If the Maple Leafs great decides the V.P role is too much of a change of pace from his low-key retirement plans, regardless of who is running the team, Domi’s going to be involved in trade conversations this summer.

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