Max Pacioretty has found his new landing spot, at least for the next few weeks.
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that they signed the 35-year-old winger to a professional try out and the former Capital will look to make the team out of training camp.
Rumors linking Pacioretty to the Maple Leafs circulated for a while before Wednesday’s announcement by the club. The transaction that moved things forward was Toronto signing restricted free agent Nick Robertson to a one-year, $875,000 contract on Tuesday.
Robertson initially asked out of Toronto in June due to an inconsistent role. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving explored dealing the 23-year-old left wing during the offseason, but reportedly didn’t want to make a trade — at least for now.
Per Puckpedia, the Maple Leafs now have 13 forwards under contract heading into camp, not including Pacioretty, with only $400,333 remaining in cap space. If Pacioretty were to make the team, the team would have to make a move to accommodate him. A veteran minimum contract starts at $775,000.
The Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that “there is an expectation from both sides that Pacioretty will be a Maple Leaf this season” and the “belief is Nick Robertson is still more likely to be traded than open the season with the #Leafs.”
Pacioretty’s PTO comes after an underwhelming 2023-24 season with the Washington Capitals where he registered 23 points in 47 games. Expected to be a goal-scoring threat to take some pressure off Alex Ovechkin, Pacioretty hit the back of the net only four times. Eleven of his 23 points came last year on the power play — four of which were secondary assists.
The veteran winger missed the first half of the year as he rehabbed from two consecutive Achilles tendon surgeries. Returning in January, Pacioretty stayed healthy for the entire back half of the 2023-24 campaign with Washington. His contract with the Capitals was a one-year deal worth $2 million with an additional $2 million earned in performance bonuses.
