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Montreal Canadiens: Was Alexander Radulov right about Max Pacioretty?

By Omar L

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 18: Montreal Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty (67) and Montreal Canadiens right wing Alexander Radulov (47) celebrate Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov (79) goal during the first period of the NHL regular season game between the Winnipeg Jets and the Montreal Canadiens on February 18, 2017, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 18: Montreal Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty (67) and Montreal Canadiens right wing Alexander Radulov (47) celebrate Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov (79) goal during the first period of the NHL regular season game between the Winnipeg Jets and the Montreal Canadiens on February 18, 2017, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 18: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Montreal Canadiens losing Alexander Radulov was tough, and although many believed it led to Max Pacioretty’s decline, he doesn’t think so.

The Montreal Canadiens had three goals for the 2017 offseason. Extend Carey Price, extend Alexander Radulov, and extend Andrei Markov. Only one of the two happened, and the Habs starting goaltender will be entering the first year of that eight-year extension this season.

To blame the entirety of the Habs performance this past season on the departure of Radulov and Markov is tough and in some respects unfair. A lot of things came together that didn’t work in Montreal’s favour. Goaltending was one of them, but a significant portion was the team’s inability to convert on scoring chances as frequently as they wanted to.

That wasn’t a problem for Brendan Gallagher and Paul Byron who finished the year with 31 and 20 goals respectively. However, Max Pacioretty scoring 17 was disappointing.

The 29-year-old is a go-to 30-goal player, so seeing him put up fewer than 20 was unusual. Was it only bad luck? Maybe, but it could also tie into the fact that Pacioretty was trying to change his game a bit after the Radulov departure or just the Claude Julien system as a whole.

The Radulov departure in of itself has been one of the theories behind Pacioretty’s departure this season. The Russia native was a dynamic piece in Montreal’s top six in 2016. He was relentless on the puck doing whatever he could to win battles along the board and set up plays for his linemates. Pacioretty was the benefactor of a handful of those.

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