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Kyle Potamiano Rabid Habs

Published on Sunday, December 4, 2016

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Fact or Friction: Max Pacioretty and Michel Therrien

THE ISSUE

On Saturday night, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos made this statement during Hockey Night in Canada:

But it’s clear from a few other teams that they want to watch this situation closely. There seems to be some friction between Pacioretty and Therrien. A lot of teams are wondering if they’re going to be a team that solely relies on Carey Price and… down the road they would move a guy like Pacioretty and go get a top-four defenceman to shore up a porous D right now and a tired Markov.

There are few things that we can pull out of this quote.

  • Teams could be interested in Max Pacioretty
  • Possible friction between the Head Coach and Max
  • Desired return for Max Pacioretty

INTEREST IN PACIORETTY

As any good GM in the league would do, I would call Marc Bergevin and ask him what his price for Pacioretty would be for two reasons:

  • Try to find a better bang for your buck, no player in the table below makes anywhere near 4.5M AAV
  • In the past 5 seasons, Pacioretty is 10th in scoring

Table provided by quanthockey.com

Rk        Name GP  G
1
Alexander OvechkinRU		 309   198
2
Steven StamkosCA		 261   142
3
Joe PavelskiUS		 319   140
4
Patrick KaneUS		 285   133
5
Tyler SeguinCA		 297   132
6
Sidney CrosbyCA		 292   131
7
Jamie BennCA		 312   129
8
Corey PerryCA		 299   129
9
John TavaresCA		 290   129
10 Max PaciorettyUS 303   126

Any team in the league would be happy to add a 30+ goal scorer with a 4.5M AAV.

FRICTION BETWEEN MAX AND MICHEL THERRIEN

This is starting to sound familiar. Regardless of what people want to believe, Therrien and Subban never got along. I think that this was a big part of the reason why Subban was dealt just a few days prior to the no trade clause taking effect.

Up until this season, Therrien always spoke highly of Pacioretty but as of late, he hasn’t been so high on him. In the summer, there were reports of Therrien saying that “Max was the worst captain in Habs history”. Similarly, there were reports of Therrien saying that “he would never win a cup with Subban on his roster”.

There is no conclusive evidence to all this, but it is definitely something to follow. Other GMs surely will.

DESIRED RETURN FOR PACIORETTY

Call Pacioretty whatever you want, but he is among the pure goal scorers in the league. If there is one thing for certain in the new NHL, it’s that 30+ goal scorers are highly valued. Partner that with the fact that he has an incredibly cap friendly contract makes him a very sought after player.

Now for the return, Kypreos thinks that he is worth a top4D. I believe that he can easily be worth a number 2 defenseman i.e. Tyson Barrie.

Now, a number 2 defenseman would be nice but I think that the hole at the number 2 centre position is a more of a pressing need. If the Canadiens could acquire a very good number two centre in exchange for Pacioretty, it would definitely be something for them to consider.

CONCLUSION

Odds are that Pacioretty will not be moved this season as they are making a push for the cup and trading a top LW for a top C will only create another hole at the LW position. In addition to all that, he has been such a great scorer in the last five years. I think that placing Pacioretty with Galchenyuk and Radulov could really get him going and put these rumors to bed. In terms of acquiring this number 2 centre, they will likely trade a package of prospects and draft picks that they have a surplus of.

 


Tagged in this article

Marc Bergevin Nick Kypreos Max Pacioretty Montreal Canadiens National Hockey League
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