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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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NEWARK, NJ – JANUARY 20: Pointing the Finger /

Radulov was interview by R-Sports where one of the topic points was Pacioretty. He mentioned that he was privy to the theories that his departure led to the poor performance disagreeing with it entirely.

But if it wasn’t Radulov, then what changed? The answer may be more clear by looking at Pacioretty’s output in the last three seasons. But to add further context, I’m going to add one more season where he set a career high in overall points.

  • 2014-15: 37 goals and 30 assists / 302 shots – 12.3 S% / 537 shot attempts
  • 2015-16: 30 goals and 34 assists / 303 shots – 9.9 S% / 539 shot attempts
  • 2016-17: 35 goals and 32 assists / 268 shots – 13.1 S% / 500 shot attempts
  • 2017-18: 17 goals and 20 assists / 212 shots – 8.0 S% / 391 shot attempts

It’s important to note that Pacioretty played the fewest amount of games of the four years this season because of a lower-body injury. If you were to take his shot and shot attempt totals and pro-rate them over an entire 82-game season, Pacioretty would’ve had around 272 shots and 500 shot attempts.

Must Read. First Goals With the Habs. light

Breaking down his scoring at each strength, it was his 5v5 production that took the biggest hit:

  • 2014-15: 22 goals and 20 assists / 225 shots – 9.78 S% / 402 shot attempts
  • 2015-16: 17 goals and 21 assists / 225 shots – 7.56 S% / 389 shot attempts
  • 2016-17: 22 goals and 20 assists / 197 shots – 11.17 S% / 360 shot attempts
  • 2017-18: 6 goals and 9 assists / 127 shots – 4.72 S% / 234 shot attempts

It’s easy to look at the two seasons and say, “AHAH! SEE!? RADULOV EFFECT!” Especially in the fact that the Habs captain’s S% was higher than any of the four years played.

Pacioretty played the most minutes at 5v5 with Radulov and Phillip Danault that seasons. He had Radulov assist on 8 of his 22 goals (6 primary) and 3 of his 8 power play goals (2 primary). There’s a clear partnership going on for that season, but it goes back to Radulov’s point in that Pacioretty scored 30 goals before he got there.

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