Max Pacioretty is a proven scorer in the NHL and he was acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018-19 in order to help the franchise achieve their goal of winning a Stanley Cup.
Max Pacioretty: Grade B+
Our 2018-19 Report Cards have some star power to them today as we turn the magnifying glass on Max Pacioretty who, after getting off to a slow start, developed into a vital cog in the Vegas Golden Knights machine.
His Season
Max Pacioretty was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sept, 10, 2018 as part of a bumper trade that saw forward Tomas Tatar, prospect Nick Suzuki and a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft head to the Montreal Canadiens.
And it didn’t take Vegas long to lock down their latest shiny new toy down to a four-year, $28 million contract as they continued to make clear their intention to become the fastest expansion team in all the major sports to win a championship.
Pacioretty, who was selected by the Canadiens with the 22nd overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, spent three of his ten-years in Montreal as the 29th Captain in franchise history and finished 2016-17 with 37 points (17 goals, 20 assists) in 64 games, missing the last 18 contests of the regular season with a knee injury.
Golden Knights President of Hockey Operations George McPhee had long been interested in acquiring Pacioretty, and he finally got his man following lengthy negotiations that spanned at least a couple of months.
But it was worth the wait for Vegas who bolstered their roster considerably by adding a pure sniper in Pacioretty, in addition to creating a deadly one-two punch at the center ice position after signing free agent Paul Stastny to slot in on the second-line behind William Karlsson. Both Pacioretty and Stastny were acquired to add further firepower to a team that made a magical run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural year.
Expectations were high for Pacioretty who endured a turbulent end to his career in Montreal after shouldering the burden that being the leader of such a storied franchise brings. However, a change of scenery didn’t do the trick straightaway with the 30-year-old tallying just two goals for two points in his first 12 games, with the first of those goals coming late in the third period against the Minnesota Wild on Oct, 7, 2018 to take the game to Overtime, with Erik Haula going on to score the winning goal in the shootout.
Those stats didn’t tell the whole story as the left wing had a shooting percentage of 56.5 percent in the slot, which indicates that Pacioretty was certainly putting the work in and was getting his shots away. However, after spending your career in one place and being seen as the face of the franchise for the majority of that time, going to a brand new environment and culture must have been hard to adapt to straightaway, and you could arguably pinpoint that as one of the main factors behind Pacioretty’s slow start in Vegas.
But, as is always the case with elite players, cream always rises to the top and Pacioretty was soon playing at the peak of his powers. He finished 2018-19 with 22 goals and 18 assists for 40 points, more points than he had recorded the year before by the way, while he also potted five game-winners.
He also had four power play goals and eight points in total on the man advantage, in addition to a CF% of 53.5 and a oZS% of 55.2. Pacioretty logged an average of 17:00 minutes of ice time per night and was also effective in the defensive zone, blocking 20 shots, having 39 takeaways and achieving a career-high in hits with 119.
Pacioretty spent 22.88 percent of the year on a second-line with Stastny and Alex Tuch, but his best work really came to light following the Trade Deadline acquisition of Mark Stone. Pacioretty, Stastny and Stone were put on a line together and it immediately paid dividends for the Golden Knights with the trio combining for 27 points in 11 games, before teaming up to produce 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in seven games against the San Jose Sharks in the postseason.
It was down the stretch where Pacioretty really went on a tear, and he recorded 15 points in a 25-game span in the latter stages of the year. He carried that momentum into the playoffs with five goals and six assists for 11 points in seven contests, including three power play points and one game-winning goal, eating an average of 19:34 minutes of ice time per game.