Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said he is confident Domi's bloodlines will help him deal with the intense scrutiny that comes with playing in Montreal.
"We all know Tie, he's a hard-nosed player," Bergevin said. "He's different than his dad, Max is, but he has a hockey background and his dad played in a hockey market too, so I think this is going to help him."
Domi, who agreed to a two-year, $6.3 million contract with Montreal (average annual value $3.15 million), joins the Canadiens at the expense of 24-year-old Galchenyuk, Montreal's first-round pick (No. 3) in the 2012 NHL Draft.
Bergevin was asked how he wanted to address fans who vented their displeasure on social media after the trade.
"Well I guess I understand to a degree because they don't know Max," Bergevin said. "I mean he's played out west, you know, I welcome [them] to watch him and to get to know him. And I think once he's here and they'll watch him play they'll appreciate what he brings to the hockey team."
Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher was Domi's teammate with Canada when it won 2016 IIHF World Championship.
"He plays extremely hard, he competes hard, but he's a pass-first kind of guy. It was shocking at times, the way he sees the game," Gallagher told the Canadiens website. "If you're out on the ice with him, you have to be ready to shoot the puck, because he's looking to feed his linemates, which is always nice to play with."
Chosen by Arizona in the first round (No. 12) of the 2013 NHL Draft, Domi had 52 points (18 goals, 34 assists) in 81 games as a rookie in 2015-16. He had 133 points (36 goals, 99 assists) in 222 games in three seasons with the Coyotes, including 45 points (nine goals, 36 assists) in 82 games this season.
"I had a rough start last year, our whole team did and that was unfortunate," Domi said of Arizona, which went 17-9-3 in its final 29 games but finished last in the Western Conference (29-41-12). "I took a lot of that, you take that upon yourself when you expect yourself to be a big part of that team and ultimately creating a winning culture there … but we finished off great with the young core and started to play a lot better and you feel like yourself a little bit. It was huge for the confidence.
"And Montreal has an unbelievable hockey team right now, a combination of an unbelievable group of veteran leadership, some great young players, and ultimately the best goalie in the League (Carey Price). So it's a great mix and I'm just going to try and slide in and do my part in helping this team win in any way it possibly can."
