Max Pacioretty has been playing well so far into the 2014-15 campaign with the Montreal Canadiens in which is his seventh season with the team. He is currently leading all Habs with 12 goals and 20 points, and is tied for ninth overall in the league for goals. Pacioretty has been one of the Habs best players since 2010-11, when he had 14 goals and 24 points in 37 games.
Mad Max was the first round pick the Habs received from the San Jose Sharks in the Josh Gorges-Craig Rivet deal in 2007, which was during the Sharks peak years, and many didn’t think the first rounder would yield a good return seeing as the Sharks were finishing at the top of the league and were at least getting to the Semi Finals in the playoffs. The Sharks were eliminated in the second round, so the Habs were getting the 22nd overall pick. The Habs also had the 12th overall pick, but we won’t get into who they chose with that pick.
Max was chosen and returned to college the next year, but by 2008-09 he was in the Bulldogs organization, furthering his development, and also getting call-ups to the Habs. Two and a half seasons went by splitting time between the two, until 2010-11 he finally broke in and really started impressing.
What’s even more amazing is his career almost ended that season, when the improving winger was crushed into the stanchion at the Habs bench by Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara. He suffered a serious fracture to his 4th cervical vertebra and also had a severe concussion. The future for Mad Max was bleak at first, but he has pulled through and hasn’t missed a beat since, only missing 16 games since after returning from the injury.
Fast forward to 2014-15, with two 30 plus goal seasons under his belt, and in the lockout year he was on pace for another, he has consistently been one of the best goal scorers in the NHL, and one of the better overall players. Pacioretty can play in all situations, being a lethal addition to the powerplay, scoring 25 goals and 51 points on the powerplay since 2010-11, and forming a solid penalty killing duo with Tomas Plekanec where he has really shown his defensive side which helped the Habs be a top penalty killing team last year. But his best strength remains his goal scoring.
Since 2010-11, his break in season, he has scored 73 even strength goals, which is tied for thirteenth with John Tavares. Some pretty good company. 20 skaters have scored at least 70 even strength goals since 10-11 with a minimum of 2000 minutes accumulated since, and out of those 20, nobody has played the least amount of games like Max, who has 262 games. The next skater with a low amount of games is the leader of even strength goals, Steven Stamkos with 277 games. Max is third in goals per 60 minutes with 1.21, behind Stamkos(1.45) and Rick Nash(1.31). So if Max had never gotten crushed by Chara, and started 10-11 with the Habs, it isn’t a stretch to think that he could have jumped from 13th overall in even strength goals to maybe 5th. Granted it was his rookie season, but he did have 14 goals in 37 games.
When you factor in all goals – even strength, short handed, and power play, he has 113 goals and 208 points in 259 games played. He ranks 17th in goals and 55th in points, but nobody has scored as much as him in that amount of games. Only two players have played less games than Pacioretty in the top fifty-five of points, those being Evgeni Malkin (235) and Jason Spezza (249). His goal per 60 is 1.46 in all situations, behind Stamkos, Alex Oveckhin and Corey Perry.
Mad Max is a very good possession player. Since 2010-11 the Canadiens own more than 50% of the shot attempts with Pacioretty on-ice. In fact, he had a career high 60.48 CF% and a 60.97 FF% during five-on-five play in 2012-2013, which has been one of his best statistical seasons to date. In that same season, Pacioretty scored at a rate of 1.04 goals per 60 minutes of five-on-five TOI while generating 2.70 points/60. His 2013 production at five-on-five ranked him eleventh overall in the NHL and behind teammates Alex Galchenyuk (2.82), Brendan Gallagher (2.78) and Lars Eller (2.71). In 44 games played he amassed 15 goals, 24 assists, and 39 points. That season also saw him start a career high 71.2% of offensive zone starts.
This year the Canadiens are registering 53.47% of the five-on-five shot attempts with Pacioretty on-ice while he and his usual linemates David Desharnais and Pierre Alexandre Parenteau enjoy an offensive zone push to the tune of 60.0%. He’s also posting 1.62 goals per 60 minutes, which is a bit higher than his 2010-2011 season and suggests that he could tie or break his career season high of 39 goals. His 3.65 shots per game this season is slightly down from last season but right on par with his rate from the previous three seasons (3.67).
There’s a reason why the Canadiens management were quick to lock up Pacioretty to a six year contract in August of 2012, and this is why. Since 2010-11, he has been one of the most reliable scorers for the Habs, and while he does have a bad reputation of streaky play, when he is hot, you’ll notice it. The resilient winger won the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy in 2012 for his inspiring comeback from the near career ending injury. He was also given the assistant captains role this year, showing that he is becoming a leader in the locker room. With another four more years left on his contract, we should be seeing Pacioretty reaching new highs, and even possibly leading the Habs to their first Stanley Cup since 1993. Go Habs Go.
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