Simmons: ‘Something Went Terribly Wrong’ With Domi’s Surgery

The Max Domi situation just got a lot worse.

Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun reported Sunday that “something went terribly wrong” with the offseason back surgery the Maple Leafs forward underwent earlier this month. According to Simmons, Domi could not walk in the days after the procedure, and his return for next season is now in serious doubt.

Toronto kept things vague when they originally broke the news on May 25:

That team statement only mentioned “complications arising from the procedure” and said Domi would be re-evaluated at training camp. Simmons filled in the blanks. He reported that Domi chose to have the surgery done by his own surgeon rather than the one the Leafs had in mind, and that whatever went wrong was serious enough to cause significant alarm inside the organization.

Simmons also flagged how unusual the silence has been around the procedure:

“Almost every operation on a professional athlete is followed by a press release that indicates that successful surgery has taken place. Whatever happened here wasn’t deemed successful. Apparently, Domi could not walk in the days following surgery, which created significant alarm. His status remains in doubt for the coming season.”

We covered the original team announcement earlier this week, but this is the first real detail on what actually happened inside that operating room.

Domi, 31, played 80 games for Toronto this past season, putting up 12 goals and 36 points while quietly battling something the team never fully disclosed. He has two more years left on his deal at $3.75 million per.

Take a look at the breakdown from The Leafs Nation:

Here’s the bigger concern. Simmons noted the worry now is less about whether Domi can play hockey again and more about whether he’s healing and able to live comfortably. Two more seasons of hockey is the cap question. His health is the actual one.