After a long time of speculation, it’s official: Max Pacioretty is attending the Toronto Maple Leafs training camp on a professional tryout (PTO). The 35-year-old left-winger has six 30-goal seasons under his belt and was the captain of the Montreal Canadiens from 2015-2018.
Max Pacioretty will attend Maple Leafs training camp on a Professional Tryout (PTO) pic.twitter.com/8UgMNOV5Rk
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) September 11, 2024
The Path for Pacioretty & What He Provides
The reason why the Maple Leafs are taking a chance here is pretty simple. While young and intriguing, their left-wing depth leaves a bit to be desired for a contender. Matthew Knies, Easton Cowan, Nicholas Robertson, Bobby McMann, Pontus Holmberg (although listed as a right-wing), and Connor Dewar seem to be the best contenders for an opening-night lineup spot—those six have 166 career NHL points combined. Players like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander can help turn this inexperience into upside, but the fact of the matter is that there’s some uncertainty here.
Now, we get to Pacioretty. He has vast leadership experience and used to be one of the NHL’s better goal-scorers in his prime. His most recent campaign, with the Washington Capitals, was one of analytical ineptitude at even strength, but he did provide value to the man advantage. In 47 games, he scored four goals and 19 assists for 23 points. He held the second-worst plus/minus rating of his career at a minus-14.
Though most hockey is indeed played at even strength, perhaps the thought here is that Toronto is so good that they can mitigate his issues. They dominate even-strength play anyway so that weakness might be more trivial than Pacioretty’s experience both as a leader off the ice and a player on it. Plus, there’s always the chance that he returns to form—this isn’t a no-upside signing, although it’s hard to envision an epiphany for this veteran where he reaches 30-goal heights again.
At the end of the day, it’s always smart to explore options. If the Maple Leafs feel Pacioretty adds another element to their team, this PTO will turn into a stint with the Blue and White. Perhaps he could help the young guns around him take another step.
