While the Carolina Hurricanes season ended in disappointment, the team had a lot to be proud of. Now in the offseason, tough decisions will be made, and management will work to put the team in a place to succeed next season. In the meantime, we will take a look back at individual players’ seasons and see how they did. For the Carolina Hurricanes offseason grades, today we look at Max Pacioretty.
Carolina Hurricanes Offseason Grade: Max Pacioretty
Max Pacioretty’s stint with Carolina this season was short-lived. The former 2007 first-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens is a prototypical sniper and a pretty good one. After spending a long time with Montreal, including serving as the team’s captain, the Canadiens moved him to the Vegas Golden Knights. When Carolina went on the hunt for a goal scorer last offseason, they took advantage of the Knights’ cap situation and acquired Pacioretty and defenceman Dylan Coghlan for future considerations. Pacioretty historically has been a very prolific goal scorer and had 19 goals in 39 games played last season. But that trade was not without risks.
Max Pacioretty’s Regular Season
Pacioretty has suffered some recent injury troubles and there were some questions about his durability to start the year. He was good to go to start the season but then suffered an Achilles tendon injury in a preseason skate. That injury would keep him out of the lineup until the beginning of 2023. When he returned, he largely did what he was acquired to do. In five games played, he scored three goals including one on the powerplay. Just for frame of reference, his three goals were more than Jack Drury‘s two in 38 games and only two behind Derek Stepan‘s five in 72 games. He led the team in expected goals per 60 minutes and goals per 60 minutes.
While the Hurricanes felt like they had finally gotten that goal-scoring forward they were seeking, fate would have a different idea. On a seemingly harmless play against the Minnesota Wild, Pacioretty appeared to catch a rut or make a move that twisted his leg in an awkward way. Others helped him off the ice, he put no weight on that leg, and then later found out his season would be over. A torn Achilles tendon to the same one injured previously was the diagnosis.
The Verdict
Grading Pacioretty’s season this year is probably not really fair but this writer did want to take a look at his year. The injury troubles are truly unfortunate for a player who otherwise might have been Carolina’s missing link. Had Pacioretty (and Andrei Svechnikov) been available, would Carolina have gotten past the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Finals? Would they have won the Stanley Cup? It’s all hypothetical but it certainly wouldn’t have hurt their chances.
The sample size for Pacioretty this year is too small to really make a great assessment, but his history backs up the idea that he very well could have been a top goal scorer for Carolina. If this Carolina Hurricanes offseason grade was based on a full sample size at his production rate, he would get an A. But overall, unfortunately, there is not really enough to make that assessment. So we can only take it as a piece to the overall grade.
Pacioretty is an unrestricted free agent this offseason. It will be interesting to see what happens. Management has stated that they will take a look at Pacioretty. But they also want to assess other goal scorers that may be available. If Pacioretty is willing to resign for a team-friendly deal, it would be worth the risk based on the high upside potential he brings. Carolina probably won’t count on Pacioretty being “the guy” this year, but if his health holds up, he could be another great asset.
Grade: B-
Main Photo: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
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