Max Pacioretty did something Sunday that he didn’t do all last season: score two goals in the same game.
Playing against an Ottawa Senators roster full of primarily prospects and AHL players, Pacioretty lit the lamp twice in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ preseason opener, a 6-5 loss. His first goal came on a deflection while cruising through the slot, and his second was a soft wrister that squeaked through Mads Sogaard’s pads.
Pacioretty skated on Toronto’s third line with John Tavares and prospect Nikita Grebenkin in the loss. He also received 1:37 of power play ice time.
“This will not be a PTO, if there was any doubt already,” hockey insider Elliotte Friedman tweeted postgame. Despite the good showing, Pacioretty, 35, is indeed only signed to a professional tryout agreement with Toronto. The Maple Leafs currently have 13 forwards under contract, and Pacioretty likely needs to push one of them out of the picture to earn a deal of his own.
Due to injury issues, including back-to-back tears of one of his Achilles tendons, Pacioretty hasn’t played much fall hockey over the past few seasons. The veteran forward potted just four goals in 47 games for the Washington Capitals during the 2023-24 campaign, making his season debut in January.
“I’m happy to get rewarded, but I definitely have a lot to improve on,” Pacioretty said postgame. “I started to lose a bit of energy there at the end of the second, and I was able to find my legs a little better in the third. That’s what camp is for also. I haven’t had a camp in a long time, so I feel good about just being able to improve as a team, as a line, and as an individual as the game went on. I hope to keep doing that.”
Pacioretty played 14:26 of ice time per game last season, his lowest average in a season in which he played more than five games since he was 21 years old on the Montreal Canadiens. He received slightly more than that (15:34) on Monday and insinuated his lack of additional ice time in DC contributed to some fitness concerns during the action.
“I didn’t play all that much last year, so when you’re going there, and they shorten the bench a little bit, it’s different from what I’m used to the past couple years,” Pacioretty said. “I put in a lot of work during the summer, but also, the first couple days of Training Camp were really intense, really hard.
“Big reason why we want to be in shape is the way we want to play. We want to play in your face and that’s also a bright spot is that we’re able to do that there in the third period. It means the team is in pretty good condition.”
Max Pacioretty with 2 goals, 1 assist, 6 shots on goal in 15:35 TOI. pic.twitter.com/qMTR8vmNLs
— Allan Walsh🏒 (@walsha) September 23, 2024
Toronto brought Pacioretty in as veteran insurance up front as the club is still dealing with forward Nick Robertson’s trade request. Per Puckpedia, the Maple Leafs are currently $1.1 million over the salary cap. If Pacioretty were to make the team, they would need to make a move to accommodate his salary.
Luckily for the Maple Leafs, Pacioretty received plenty of bonus money from the Capitals last season to make taking a lesser deal to play in the NHL viable. A veteran minimum contract in the NHL starts at $775,000, and Pacioretty achieved $2 million in performance bonuses with Washington on top of his $2 million salary.
After a highly disappointing year with the Capitals during which he scored just four goals and recorded nearly half of his 23 points on the power play, Pacioretty knows he needs to produce to stay in the league. And it’s unlikely Toronto will make a knee-jerk decision based on the hype over one preseason game against half a team of non-NHL players.
“I talked to you guys about how good I felt, so I gotta prove it then after,” Pacioretty said. “You can’t go out there and throw up a dud. Just a lot of stuff – I don’t think my wife has watched a preseason game in 15 years, and she was trying to find what channel it would be on back home.
“It’s a privilege to play in this league, and when it’s taken from you there for a little bit, you kinda realize that sometimes you can take it for granted, so even just a preseason game here and the history of this club got me a little nervous. I think that’s a good thing.”
Toronto will play six preseason games, with three more coming this week. As a player in camp on a PTO, Pacioretty will probably play in the bulk of the games. The Maple Leafs open their 2024-25 regular season with a back-to-back against the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils on October 9 and 10.
