As if things couldn’t get more awkward for Max Pacioretty and the Montreal Canadiens, the club announced on Twitter, at 1:06 in the morning – just after Aaron Rodgers finished ballin’ out – that they had traded their captain to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Canadiens have acquired forwards Tomas Tatar and Nick Suzuki, and a 2nd round pick in 2019 from the Vegas Golden Knights (Columbus’ pick previously acquired by Vegas), in return for Max Pacioretty. pic.twitter.com/HEt3uEXOo5
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 10, 2018
Jackpot! A great trade for both teams, especially if the Golden Knights can lock up Pacioretty long term. Talks have already been underway between both sides, according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. Trade rumors have surrounded the 29th captain in Canadiens history for the past several months and they intensified when his agent Allan Walsh spoke up about his client’s situation in Montreal, just last week.
Obvious these “sources” are coming from the club. Max will always take the high road and repeats again, he is ready to sign an extension with Montreal TODAY. It was Montreal that traded Max to LA at the draft and it was a DONE DEAL subject to Max signing an extension with LA. https://t.co/KsLbJ6prJr
— Allan Walsh (@walsha) August 30, 2018
Well if you talk to general manager Marc Bergevin, he’ll tell you Pacioretty wanted out of Montreal. Whether that’s the case or not, could you really blame Pacioretty? Bergevin reportedly had a deal in place with the Los Angeles Kings which centered around Pacioretty signing an extension with Los Angeles. The deal fell apart, and the Canadiens’ sniper later fired his agent Pat Brisson and hired Walsh. Last month reports surfaced that Bergervin and head coach Claude Julien would skip Pacioretty’s charity golf tournament. Word got out about how odd that would be, considering management had reported for past events. So, Bergevin and Canadiens owner Geoff Molson attended but it certainly seemed like they had better places to be. At the tournament, Pacioretty expressed (like he always has) his love for Montreal and the city, but that the team had not talked contract with him. Pacioretty went on to say that he wouldn’t negotiate a new deal with Montreal when the puck dropped on the 2018 season. The writing was essentially on the wall. In fact it is. Days later, and he’s a member of the Golden Knights.
Max Pacioretty may be one of the most undervalued and under-appreciated players not only with the Montreal Canadiens, the media and their fanbase, but in the NHL. It’s hard to find a legit goal scorer in today’s game and when Pacioretty went three or four games without finding the back of the net, it was magnified. Especially given the market he played in and the lack of scoring the Canadiens possessed (29th in goals last season). It’s just the nature of the business in Montreal. The word ‘pressure’ gets tossed around, and he was wearing the C. When Montreal struggled, the finger was mostly pointed at him. After all, two of Montreal’s last three seasons have been two of their worst in franchise history. When P.K. Subban was traded, many thought the organization sided with Pacioretty and former head coach Michel Therrien. Well both are gone now and Bergevin is still there.
Max Pacioretty Fantasy Value
Pacioretty provides a lot of value in the fantasy hockey community, especially in Fantrax’s salary cap format. The 29-year-old is entering the sixth and final year of his deal which pays him $4.5 million per season. After four straight 30-goal and 60-point campaigns, Pacioretty registered 17 goals and 37 points in 2017-18. His season was cut short due to a knee injury and he ended up as one of the major busts in fantasy hockey.
The former first round pick (22nd overall), had been consistently putting up Top-10 numbers at the left wing position and was primed for a bounce-back season whether it was with Montreal or another team. In previous years, Pacioretty was taken in the first few rounds of fantasy drafts and always returned value, but because of his one down season and the fact he played for the low scoring Canadiens (what else is new?), he was set to be one of the better mid-to-late round picks.
Pacioretty was taken in the 11th round (by me) during last month’s Fantrax fantasy hockey mock. Now that’s value! The fact that he’ll be with Vegas only helps his overall game. With no disrespect to Tomas Plekanec, David Desharnais or Phillip Danault, Max will now have a solid center to skate with. Whether it’s William Karlsson or Paul Stastny, Pacioretty’s ceiling just increased.
Pacioretty’s averaged 274 shots and 31 goals in his last six full seasons (excluding lockout year). His 206 goals since 2011-12 are the ninth most in the NHL, just three back of Patrick Kane in two fewer games. His 1,804 shots over that time frame rank fourth, just one behind Phil Kessel. Pacioretty is behind only Alex Ovechkin and Brad Marchand in even strength goals over the past five seasons, at the LW position.
There’s no question Max Pacioretty can get back into the 30-goal column as he churned out a career-worst shooting percentage (8.0) last season. Three percentage points lower than his career norm. Pacioretty’s 64 games were the fewest he’s played since that lockout season, and he still ended up with a career high 118 hits. It’s the third time he’s had at least 100 hits over the last four seasons, which adds a sneaky element to his value. The left winger fills categories and is currently buried down ADP’s, but that’s about to change with the move to Vegas.
It was quite the inaugural season for the Golden Knights who made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, falling just short to the Washington Capitals. Vegas finished fourth in the league in goals. They had a Top-10 power play and penalty kill unit, which will now feature Pacioretty. Head coach Gerard Gallant is very familiar with Pacioretty having coached him for two years in Montreal as an assistant, which is right around the time Pacioretty started to be a factor on the PK. One of those two seasons just happened to be one of Pacioretty’s best: Career high 39 goals.
The Montreal Side
As for the Habs, well… the rebuild is on. To think this team was two wins way from going to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014, with the likes of Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, Alexander Radulov, Andrei Markov and Alex Galchenyuk. Now all gone and nothing on the current roster to get over-the-top excited about. Much has been made of Bergevin’s trades, but this is one of his better moves considering it was out in the open that a trade was on the horizon. On the flip side, Bergevin put the organization in this spot and could have had an even better return if he parted ways with Pacioretty earlier. Say what you want about the returns he’s fetched with his best assets, but he landed himself a top prospect, a potential trade asset in Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick (Columbus’ pick).
Nick Suzuki is the centrepiece in the deal. The 19-year-old was taken 13th overall by Vegas in 2017. Suzuki scored 42 goals and 100 points (fourth most) in 64 games with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack in 2017. He profiled as a center, but played mostly on the wing last season (let the controversy begin). It’s highly unlikely you’ll see Suzuki in a Habs uniform this season as he still has one more year left to play in the OHL. He’s a solid dynasty option for those playing with Minor League roster spots here at Fantrax.
Tatar joins his third team in just over a year, after he was acquired by the Golden Knights from the Detroit Red Wings at last season’s trade deadline. Vegas sent three draft picks (first, second and third) to Detroit in what was a down season for the 27-year-old. The move never really worked out for either side as Tatar scored four goals and had just six points in 20 regular season games with Vegas. He was used sparingly during the playoffs, totaling two points in eight games while playing 12:25 per night.
Tatar is entering his eighth season and is coming off his worst to date. He scored 20 goals between both teams, but his 34 points was his lowest total since his 18-game sophomore season. Tatar has scored at least 20 goals in four straight seasons and his career high point total is 56. That’s his ceiling heading into 2018-19 which makes him nothing more than a deep-league flier, an injury replacement, and a pass in Fantrax’s salary leagues. Believe it or not, Tatar has three year’s left at $5.3 million per season and is now the second highest paid forward on the team. Don’t be surprised if Tatar latches onto another team this season. He’ll get ice time and power play time in Montreal so don’t completely ignore him on the wire.
Reason for the precise salary retention percentage on Tatar is that it drops it a clean $500 k on the AAV so Tatar goes from $5.3 M aav to $4.8 M aav a year on the Montreal books
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) September 10, 2018
All in all, it seems like a lot to give a player who may only be with you for a one season. In reality, Vegas general manager George McPhee gave up a first, two seconds, a third and Nick Suzuki for potentially one season of Max Pacioretty. He’s certainly not under-appreciated anymore and has a legit shot at a Stanley Cup as he enters what could be a potential free agent frenzy period for him at the end of the season. My guess is he’ll sign. I mean how many times have we heard a GM say they value a player much different than Montreal does. He’s more than a rental and he’s a strong fantasy target.