The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Atlantic Division woke up to a nice bit of news this morning.
Five days before the first game of the NHL preseason, one of the Toronto Maple Leafs great rivals made a long expected trade in the wee hours of the morning. The Montréal Canadiens have traded their team captain Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki, and the Columbus Blue Jackets’ 2019 second round pick.
That’s certainly a way to shake up the locker room.
There has been talk of Pacioretty getting traded all summer, including a deal with the Los Angeles Kings that supposedly fell through at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. I even wrote about a trading him last week. There was a lot of drama surrounding Pacioretty and the Habs this summer, and this trade needed to be done. Before the preseason began was arguably the best time Marc Bergevin could have made a deal under the circumstances.
The Trade
The Golden Knights receive Pacioretty while the Habs retain 10% of his salary ($450,000) for the next year. Pacioretty adds to their depth at winger along with Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith. Pacioretty has 448 career points in 626 games, with 112 powerplay points. It also gives the Toronto Maple Leafs a reprieve, as Pacioretty had 28 points in 38 games against the Leafs in his career.
Back to the Habs
Then there’s the pieces the Habs received, starting with Tomas Tatar. Traded to the Golden Knights from the Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline, Tatar has scored the same amount of 5v5 goals as Pacioretty (28) over the last two years, and has a career relative Corsi of 6.3%.
The Golden Knights will also retain just over 9% of his salary (500,000) per year for the remainder of his contract, which brings his AAV from $5.3 million to $4.8 million. So he’s younger, cheaper, and scores almost as much. Plus the Habs got more:
The prospect they received, Nick Suzuki, was drafted 13th overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Vegas drafted him using the pick traded to them by Columbus (along with the 2019 second rounder) to select William Karlsson in the NHL Expansion Draft. Suzuki is a center who has been lighting up the OHL over the last few years, racking up 234 points in 192 games. A center is something the Habs desperately need, and with Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi in their farm system, the Canadiens should have two solid centers in a few years.
Who Won The Trade?
Tartar and Pacioretty are both coming off somewhat disappointing seasons, and there is no question that Pacioretty is the best player in this trade.
The Canadiens, however, turned an expiring contract into three seasons of a player who scores just as much 5v5 and who they get at a 10% discount, plus they got a prospect who was recently drafted in the first round, and a second rounder. That is a great return.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Atlantic Division have no doubt been keeping their eyes on the Habs and what moves they would make. This trade may help the Canadiens in the future, but it strips them of one of the few strong offensive assets they had on their roster.
Statistics courtesy of eliteprospects.com and hockeyreference.com
Salary information courtesy of capfriendly.com