This is going to sound crazy but Max Pacioretty is going to score 30 goals and be a legitimate top-six forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs this year.
The 35-year-old is seemingly past his prime, according to all available evidence on his game and NHL aging in general, but I'm not one to fall into that category. Instead, I truly think that he's going to be an impact player for the Toronto Maple Leafs and he's going to surprise a ton of critics.
When we look at the Leafs left-wing position right now, for some reason we're already slotting Matthew Knies, Bobby McMann and potentially Max Domi or Nick Robertson ahead of Pacioretty, which is unfair. Not a single one of those players has scored 30-plus goals in their career, but Pacioretty has done it six times.
I like McMann's size and what he was able to do last year, but what are the chances he's actually an NHL goal scorer worth of a top line spot? He's 28-years-old with 66 NHL games of experience and scored 15 goals last year. McMann comes with a $1.35M cap-hit which makes him useful, but Pacioretty is going to be cheaper than that.
In my opinion, we are overaluing McMann way too much and I'd be more surprised if he scored 20 goals this year versus being sent down to the AHL.
Expect Max Pacioretty to score 30 goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs
Anyways, back to Max Pacioretty. Health has been a big concern for him over the past few years and after watching him with the Washington Capitals last year, you'd think his career could be over. However, I'm going to have trust in the fact that nobody is going to have an amazing year coming off a torn Achilles on a brand new team.
After a full summer of gaining strength and feeling more comfortable after that injury, Pacioretty is going to come back with avengence. A player like this shouldn't be available on a PTO this late in his career, so he knows that this could be the lack kick at the can before he retires, so no better way to prove himself with a core of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares.
When the veteran is healthy, he's proven that no matter what team he plays on, he can contribute on a nightly basis. He's only two years removed from scoring at a 40-goal pace and has not been given an opportunity like this since his time with the Vegas Golden Knights.
In my opinion, it's Pacioretty's job to lose in the top-six and Brad Treliving made a great move by bringing him in, as it's a low-risk, high-reward signing that I personally think is going to pay off big time.