Max Pacioretty officially joins Toronto Maple Leafs on a PTO
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The Maple Leafs seek to rewind a proven 30-goal scorer’s body clock to the Max.
The club confirmed on Wednesday that it has extended a professional tryout contract for 35-year-old Max Pacioretty after a couple of injury-marred seasons and three teams in as many years. The expectation is a one-year contract at the conclusion of training camp that starts next Wednesday.
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Max Pacioretty officially joins Toronto Maple Leafs on a PTO Back to video
The Leafs hope to get more of the vintage left winger who twice suffered a torn Achilles tendon while with the Carolina Hurricanes, once in pre-season workouts in 2022-23 after his trade for salary-cap reasons from the Vegas Golden Knights and then after playing just five games that season for the Canes.
He signed a one-year, $4-million deal with the Washington Capitals in 2023-24 as he returned to health, playing 47 games and recording 25 points.
The Leafs already are up against the expanded $87 million US cap limit. They had just $400,333 to use according to the salary cap site Puckpedia before adding defenceman Jani Hakanpaa later Wednesday on a one-year deal at $1.470 million. While they can exceed the cap by 10 per cent in the off-season, general manager Brad Treliving is going to have to waive someone, make a trade or keep some cheap talent around were Pacioretty to make it into the opening-night lineup.
In the prime of his career as captain Montreal Canadiens, Connecticut native Pacioretty was pumping in 30 goals per term and keeping the Habs in playoff contention.
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But as that team started to slide, he was traded to the Golden Knights, though his success there didn’t last until their 2023 Cup run.
Pacioretty joins Steven Lorentz of the 2024 champion Florida Panthers on a PTO in Toronto.
Quite apart from what the 6-foot-2 Pacioretty can bring to a Leafs team that’s thin at left wing scoring (at least before Bobby McMann proves he has recovered from injury, Nick Robertson gets his shot after signing a one-year on Monday and if Lorentz gets time on the left side) will be the unusual optic of a former Montreal captain wearing blue and white.
In the 107-year rivalry between the oldest NHL franchises, only Kirk Muller (1994) and 1930s goaltender George Hainsworth went from being captains in Montreal to playing in Toronto.
Doug Gilmour is the only former Leafs captain to re-surface as a Canadien later in his career, while Quebec-born ex-Leaf Vince Damphousse also wore the ‘C’ for the Habs in the 1990s.
While some PTOs do not work out, fourth-line forward Noah Gregor parlay his chance last autumn into a one-year deal with Toronto.
Also in the past decade, players such as Zach Aston-Reese and Mason Raymond have worked their way from tryout to deal, while Josh Ho-Sang, Henrik Tallinder and goalie Michal Neuvirth didn’t get NHL deals.
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