Well, folks: it finally happened. After months of rumours and speculation and total drama, the Montreal Canadiens ship their longtime captain out west to Las Vegas. It’s been a big off-season in Montreal, starting with Galchenyuk to Arizona for Max Domi, Joel Armia coming from Winnipeg, and now Max Pacioretty. It was a longtime coming for Pacioretty, as his contract was winding down at the end of the upcoming season. The Canadiens needed to act now and they did right before training camp starts, now both the Canadiens and Pacioretty can have a fresh start and hopefully move on from all of this drama. We’re gonna look at the trade for both sides.
The trade, in my opinion, was excellent for both teams involved. For Las Vegas, they get a 30 goal scorer in the prime of his career and who will immediately fill the void on that top 6 left by James Neal, who signed with the Calgary Flames this off season. Pacioretty may have struggled the last 2 seasons, but he will bounce back without a doubt. For Montreal, this signifies that they are in rebuilding mode, even if general manager Marc Bergevin won’t admit it, but it’s happening whether we like it or not.
The Habs receive in return Tomas Tatar, a 20 goal scorer who struggled last season and could not crack the Vegas lineup in the playoffs. He’s signed for 3 more years at a cap hit of 5.3 million a year, but the good thing is that he’s 2 years younger than Pacioretty, so he’s still young and can provide offense if he’s put in the right situation. He also has a no-movement clause in his contract, which means he has a say in where he wants to go before any trade is made, and for him to want to come to Montreal is a good sign for the Canadiens.
However, he wasn’t the key player in this deal, it is highly touted prospect Nick Suzuki, who was drafted in the 1st round, 13th overall in 2017. He can play all three forward positions, but his natural position is centre, which was important for Montreal into making this deal happen. In comparison, Craig Button looks at him and sees Rickard Rakell of the Anaheim Ducks, and I couldn’t agree more. He’s a centre who plays all 3 forward positions, can score, skate, kill penalties, he’s used in every situation of the game, and that’s what Nick Suzuki is. The versatility that he brings to the table is huge for the Canadiens, because of his fast pace, goal scoring and playmaking style, and he’s very responsible defensively, so if he turns out like Rickard Rakell, Montreal wins this deal by a long mile.
In addition to the deal, Montreal gets a 2nd round pick in 2019 from Vegas, which was previously acquired from Columbus, so it won’t be a high pick, but the Canadiens can still get a quality prospect in the upcoming draft in 2019 that’s pegged to be very deep in every position. Looking into the future, Montreal is potentially deep at centre. With 3rd overall pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi, American centre Ryan Poehling and now Nick Suzuki, Montreal has finally answered the centre problem they’ve had for so many years, now it’s up to these 3 to back it up. I can’t wait to see this team in 2-3 years.
For Vegas, general manager George Mcphee said it in his press conference announcing the deal, “With Pacioretty, we are a better team now than we were yesterday”. He’s right, as they signed Pacioretty to a 4 year extension, worth 28 million at an AAV(Average Annual Value)of 7 million a year. With Vegas recently entering the NHL and becoming the first expansion team in history to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, they are no doubt in win now mode, and it doesn’t look like they’re done yet. Rumours have been going around a while that they are all in on Erik Karlsson, but with the recent acquisition of Pacioretty, maybe Vegas holds off on Karlsson, but I don’t think that will stop them from pursuing him.
It’s gonna be interesting to see how this deal will impact both sides, but looking at it now, I see Montreal winning this deal in the future, if Nick Suzuki lives up to the hype and that 2nd round pick becomes a very good player in the future.
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