Veteran winger Max Pacioretty linked to the San Jose Sharks for a potential PTO

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James Connelly
August 18, 2024 (3:56 PM)

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Former Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty is looking to continue his playing career in the NHL and could sign a PTO with the bottom-feeding San Jose Sharks.

Max Pacioretty, at 35 years old, is looking to continue his NHL career. The goalscoring winger is coming off a difficult season with the Washington Capitals where he struggled to stay healthy all year and this led to a decline in his scoring.

Currently, we are just over a month away from the beginning of the NHL season and Pacioretty has not signed a contract with any of the 32 teams yet. However, this may change soon as Pacioretty has become a candidate for a potential PTO (Professional Try Out) with the San Jose Sharks.

Currently, the San Jose Sharks are a very young team and will have many rookies making their NHL debuts next season like 2024 1st overall pick Macklin Celebrini, 2023 4th overall pick Will Smith, and potentially 2023 26th overall pick Quentin Musty. A presence that Pacioretty would bring would help these rookies learn the ropes at the highest level and a figure like Pacioretty, who formerly captained the Montreal Canadiens, would be a perfect leader for their young core.

Max Pacioretty was born in New Canaan, Connecticut, and played NCAA hockey at the University of Michigan. Pacioretty's talent was visible from a young age so with the 22nd overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft, the Montreal Canadiens selected the goalscoring American. Pacioretty exceeded all expectations, relatively early on scoring 33 goals and 65 points in his first full season with the Canadiens. In 2015, Pacioretty got the nod as the Canadiens captain, a role he would hold for three years before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights. In Vegas, Pacioretty would post impressive scoring numbers.

During the 2022 offseason, he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes and unfortunately, Pacioretty would only play five games with the Hurricanes after struggling with two Achilles tears. However, in 2023-24 Pacioretty was a bit more healthy playing in 47 games with the Washington Capitals where he scored 23 total points. Currently, he is a free agent and the San Jose Sharks look like the perfect fit for him.

Source for Max Pacioretty's statistics: NHL.com
Max Pacioretty's profile

Source: TheMugNHL
TheMugNHL