Montreal Canadiens: A streaking Max Pacioretty is good for many reasons
By Omar L
Max Pacioretty looks like he’s back to his goal-scoring self, but that shouldn’t stop the Montreal Canadiens from moving him if the price is right.
There are highs and lows in every NHL season. For example, there’s the Montreal Canadiens loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday (high) and their latest win against the Washington Capitals (low). You also have to take into consideration Max Pacioretty‘s two-goal performance, first on the power play and then an empty-netter which became the game-winning goal.
Considering they were Pacioretty’s fifth and sixth goals in six games, it looks like he’s doing what he loves to do in the second half of NHL seasons. The Habs captain is going streaking. Pacioretty has scored 19, 14, and 15 goals respectively in each of the latter halves of regular seasons dating back to 2015.
It would be a remarkable performance for him to hit the 30-goal mark again this year, but the 29-year-old will get awfully close if he continues this pace. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to be the Debbie Downer in this situation depending on where your thoughts on this year are.
Seeing Pacioretty do what he does best is good for the morale of the team, but it also adds to his trade value. We can’t ignore the bigger picture here. If the Montreal Canadiens want to continue to be a team that tries to make the playoffs to get eliminated early then fine, but that doesn’t lead to a Stanley Cup.
If what Friedman said on the Calgary radio is true – which we should rightly assume considering he’s a reliable source – the Habs are going to sell off players to build for the future. Pacioretty, in my opinion, already looked like the better option considering the steep price the Buffalo Sabres are asking for Evander Kane and the fact that he has another year on his deal after this one.
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A team will be even more willing to get the Habs a key piece if it’s a hot Pacioretty that they will be adding to their roster. I originally thought that a trade of this magnitude would have to happen in the offseason, but it’s even more likely that it happens at the upcoming deadline.
Of course, it’s going to depend on whether the offer matches what Marc Bergevin and the rest of Habs management want. However, as many have mentioned, the phones are red hot in Montreal right now. Is it a team like the St. Louis Blues that reaches out the hardest, and if that’s the case, is it a Robert Thomas – who many have spoken of being a possible target for the Habs – that gets the deal done?
Bergevin admitted his mistakes at that press conference, but a Pacioretty trade is one he absolutely cannot mess up. All management needs are for him to continue his scoring and the rest of the NHL teams shouldn’t have a problem paying the price.
What are your thoughts on Pacioretty’s latest success? What do you think it will do to his trade value? Let us know what you think down in the comments.