*Photo from Fantasy Alarm*
Some veteran scoring depth is going to the nations capital. The Washington Capitals and LW Max Pacioretty have agreed to a one year, $2 million contract, according to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff. The Capitals have confirmed the addition.
Last season, Pacioretty was with the Carolina Hurricanes after being traded by the Vegas Golden Knights. Thanks to two torn Achillies tendons in 5 months, Pacioretty only played 5 games with the Hurricanes, scoring 3 goals in those 5 games.
Due to the second tear, Pacioretty isn't expected to be ready for opening night, but he doesn't expect to miss a large chunk of time. Pacioretty has an additional $2 million available in performance bonuses and has a full no movement clause in his contract for the one season.
Pacioretty said of signing with the Capitals that "This was a unique situation for me. I've never been a free agent before and obviously coming off an injury, there were a couple of scenarios how I could have played it. At the end of the day, I just thought that Washington was a great opportunity for me to come back and prove that I'm still the player that I once was and that I'm capable of coming back and scoring goals."
Since debuting in the NHL, Pacioretty has shown strong ability to score goals. He has reached the 30 goal mark in 6 seasons and has surpassed 35 goals 3 times. His single season high was 39 in 2013-2014 with the Montreal Canadiens. His last full season was a 48 game showing in the short 2021 season.
Pacioretty was a former first round pick of the Canadiens. He has played in 15 seasons with 3 different teams. He has 326 goals and 319 assists to his name, averaging 17:35 of ice time in 855 regular season games. Pacioretty has an additional 25 goals and 24 assists over 74 career playoff games, split over 7 seasons.
Washington GM Brian McClellan said of Pacioretty that "I think we've got to find a way to score more goals and that's what he does. Really like the player. Obviously, he's one of the top goal scorers over the last number of years. Good player. Beyond the injury I still think he's probably better than what he was in his later years. We're excited to get him healthy and in our lineup."
The signing of Pacioretty is the first notable addition for the Capitals, who missed the playoffs last season and hired Spencer Carbery as their new head coach, replacing Peter Laviolette.
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