Max Pacioretty has formally joined the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The veteran of 902 NHL video games signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract on Monday — two days earlier than the Leafs season begins — as he continues to make a comeback from a number of surgical procedures on his Achilles tendon.
Pacioretty’s new contract has a low base wage ($873,770) however contains games-played bonuses of $626,230 that take it to $1.5 million, below an age 35-plus contract construction. Pacioretty had an identical contract construction final season with the Washington Capitals and earned $2 million for passing the 20-game mark.
The benefit for the Leafs is the bonuses solely rely in opposition to the wage cap as soon as they're attained, and they are often shifted to subsequent season in the event that they result in Toronto being over the cap on the finish of the season. For now, Pacioretty solely counts his base wage in opposition to the cap, shopping for them some early respiration room.
Pacioretty was in Leafs coaching camp on an expert tryout settlement, however the common phrases of this contract had been agreed to in the summertime earlier than coming to Toronto. He spent nearly all of camp on a 3rd line enjoying with John Tavares and Nick Robertson.
In addition to Pacioretty, the Leafs additionally signed ahead Steven Lorentz to a league minimal $775,000, one-year deal on Monday. They additionally prolonged the contract of prospect defenseman Cade Webber an extra two years at a value of $825,000 a season.
Pacioretty completed tied for the Leafs scoring lead in preseason with two targets and three assists. Lorentz, in the meantime, had discovered a house on a hard-hitting fourth line with David Kampf and Ryan Reaves after profitable the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers final season.
For Pacioretty, the contract with the Leafs represents a part of a troublesome, ongoing comeback try. The 35-year-old has solely performed 91 video games over the previous three seasons because of harm and managed solely 4 targets in 47 video games with the Capitals final season.
But previous to the 2022-23 season, Pacioretty was one of many league’s extra dependable aim scorers, placing up 303 targets in his earlier 11 seasons, seventh most among all NHL players.
How a lot of that scoring punch he can nonetheless present stays to be seen, however the Leafs can use further assistance on the wing given they misplaced Tyler Bertuzzi to free company within the offseason and don’t have many wingers with a scoring pedigree exterior of Mitch Marner and William Nylander.
The Leafs additionally positioned goaltender Matt Murray and defenseman Marshall Rifai on waivers Sunday in an effort to get below the $88 million wage cap and 23-player roster restrict.
The Leafs enter the season with $4.3 million in additional spending over the cap. They positioned three gamers on long-term injured reserve (Calle Jarnkrok $2 million, Jani Hakanpaa $1.47 million and Dakota Mermis $775,000) and one on common injured reserve (Connor Dewar $1.18 million) in an effort to get inside $1 greenback of the restrict prematurely of Monday’s 5 p.m. roster deadline.
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(Photo: Dan Hamilton / Imagn Images)
