Ducks Potential PTO Candidate: Max Pacioretty

NHL training camps are set to begin in mid to late Sept. It’s a time when teams invite current free agents to participate in their camps as PTOs (Professional Tryout) to get a firsthand look and determine if they’d like to offer them a contract.

To date, three teams have already invited players to their training camps on PTOs; the Tampa Bay Lightning have invited Logan Brown, the Washington Capitals have invited Jakub Vrana, and the Vegas Golden Knights have invited Tanner Pearson.

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Pat Verbeek has been at the helm of the Anaheim Ducks for two training camps in his tenure (2022 and 2023) and has utilized PTOs in both instances. The most notable among them were Zach Kassian and Scott Harrington in 2023. Neither earned a contract with the team. Nathan Beaulieu was invited to Ducks training camp in 2022 and earned a contract, playing 52 games with the Ducks in 2022-23.

Heading into the 2024 offseason, Verbeek stated his desire to add a top-six forward and top-four defenseman to the Ducks roster. He made a couple of big offers, didn’t land the big fish he sought, and instead traded for defenseman Brian Dumoulin and forward Robby Fabbri.

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The Ducks roster could still benefit from adding a bonafide talent at the top of the forward group.

Perhaps the most high-profile name left on the free agency market is former Montreal Canadiens captain, Max Pacioretty.

Once upon a time, Pacioretty (35) was one of the NHL’s premier goal-scorers and a nearly automatic shoo-in for 30 goals per season.

After a four-year stretch where he scored 141 goals between 2013 and 2017, his production took a bit of a dip before it was resurrected when he was traded from Montreal to Vegas before the 2018-19 season.

After a few playoff runs with the Golden Knights, Pacioretty fell victim to the injury bug. He missed a large chunk of the 2021-22 season due to wrist surgery and lower-body injury, but still managed 37 points in 39 games.

He was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in July of 2022 and tore his Achilles tendon during off-season training in August. He returned in Jan. 2023 only to tear his Achilles again.

Pacioretty played the 2023-24 season with the Washington Capitals, scoring 23 points in 47 games but only tallied four goals. He added an assist in four playoff games as the Caps were swept in the first round by the New York Rangers.

At 35 years old and with the injury history he’s endured, Pacioretty is likely in the twilight of his career. He has yet to hoist the Stanley Cup and could be holding out hope for a contending team to offer him a contract.

If he’s simply looking to continue playing in the NHL, the Anaheim Ducks could offer him a PTO and easily fit him into the top nine of their forward group currently populated with young, talented, and hungry players.

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Though he may not be the bonafide sniper he was early in his career, Pacioretty still has value as a play builder on the ice, making the next right play and advancing the puck up ice. He could fit seamlessly alongside the dynamic play-driving talents of Leo Carlsson, Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish, Cutter Gauthier, or any combination of the bunch.

He could aid with insulating and nurturing the team’s young core, providing veteran intricacies on the ice and an experienced voice in the locker room.

If he can recapture some of the aspects of his game that made him an impact player and with the Ducks in all likelihood destined to miss the playoffs for a seventh straight year, Pacioretty could find himself traded during the season to a contending team in need of his skill set.

Extending Pacioretty a PTO could be a no-risk, high-reward endeavor for both the player and the Ducks organization.

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