The Washington Capitals and general manager Brian MacLellan kicked off their wheeling and dealing before Friday’s trade deadline by moving Anthony Mantha to the Vegas Golden Knights and it sounds like another veteran winger could follow Mantha out the door.
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun is reporting that Max Pacioretty is believed to have the Florida Panthers on his list of teams he is willing to waive his no-move clause to go to. Pacioretty has garnered interest from teams for some time now but has full control of where he lands and the location of potential suitors is expected to be paramount in his decision.
Florida is among the desired destinations for both Tarasenko and I believe for Pacioretty, too… both have full no-move clauses helping them control the process.
But I mean, who can blame anyone for wanting to go to Florida right now. First-place team and palm trees. https://t.co/9YRtprXHC3— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 6, 2024
The Panthers completed a trade for Ottawa Senators winger Vladimir Tarasenko on Wednesday but should have enough cap space remaining to make another move after sending a player to the AHL to fit Tarasenko on their roster. Pacioretty makes $2 million against the salary cap and the Capitals could retain up to half of that to make any potential deal work.
Pacioretty made his return to hockey with the Capitals this January after tearing his right Achilles’ tendon twice within five months. In 25 games this season, he has recorded 15 points (3g, 12a).
The Capitals signed Pacioretty to a one-year, incentive-laden deal this past offseason. The contract included up to $2 million in performance bonuses regarding games played which Pacioretty has met. The team will likely have all or at least part of that $2 million on their cap next season depending on how much cap space they can free up before the end of this year.
Before the deadline, the Capitals have just one more game on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
