Max Domi is headed back to the London Knights after failing to make the Coyotes. (USATSI)
Max Domi is headed back to the London Knights after failing to make the Coyotes (USATSI)

The Arizona Coyotes need some help in the scoring department and it sounded like former first-round pick Max Domi was going to get a real shot to make the roster to help fill that void. That won’t happen this year, however. The Coyotes are sending Domi back to the OHL, where he will play a fourth season for the London Knights, according to multiple reports.

Domi apparently didn’t distinguish himself in camp. He’s not even getting a nine-game look from the team during the regular season, which is telling.

Unfortunately for Arizona, Domi not being ready for the NHL forces its hand. He’s been a dominant player in the OHL for the better part of the last two years and may not have much to gain by going back. But because he has not yet played four seasons and is under the age of 20, he is not eligible to be sent to the American Hockey League.

The NHL and Canadian Hockey League, which includes the OHL under its umbrella, have an agreement that requires junior-age eligible players to be loaned back to their junior teams. It’s something Coyotes GM Don Maloney said he’d like to see altered in some way when he spoke to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun last month:

"It's hard to imagine any NHL GM would argue against adding additional flexibility to the current CHL rule," Coyotes GM Don Maloney told via email to ESPN.com on Tuesday. "We all understand top junior players are valuable assets for their junior Clubs. However, for any elite junior player who has played three full CHL seasons (in Max Domi’s case, three straight Memorial Cup appearances), the option to place the player (perhaps restrict it to one player per Club) in the AHL would be invaluable to us and a real benefit to the player’s development." 

The NHL has this rule, in part, to protect the CHL from losing all of their players to the AHL. Canadian major junior is the biggest feeder system to the NHL, so keeping its competition as good as it is, is a priority for development purposes.

That said, there are instances where going back to junior is probably not in the best interest of the individual player or NHL team from a development perspective. The Coyotes are in a tough spot because burning a year of Domi’s entry-level contract before he’s ready and doesn’t get to play enough is just bad business.

But Domi had 93 points in 61 games last season and 87 in 64 contests the year before. At age 19, it is unlikely he will be challenged as much by a league in which he will be among the older and more experienced players. It’s an unfortunate circumstance that ends up hurting a small percentage of players that are in NHL limbo, as in not quite ready for the top league, but well past junior.

The OHL -- and the WHL and QMJHL, for that matter -- are fine leagues, and Domi will probably still be able to gain something, but challenging a player is the best way to push his development forward.  He may make Canada's roster for the World Junior Championship and gain some more valuable experience there. That said, it’s hard to see where Domi is going to be challenged regularly enough to keep pushing his development forward at the rate required for him to become more NHL ready.

For the Coyotes, it is has to be disappointing that Domi isn’t ready. They need some scoring help and don’t have many options to bring it. It looked like Domi could have been part of the solution there. Instead, it’s another year of waiting and wondering.

Domi, who is the son of former NHL enforcer Tie Domi, was the Coyotes' pick at 12th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He has 229 career points in three seasons with London.