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Pacioretty Traded To Vegas For Top C Prospect N Suzuki + Truth Told! Update |
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***UPDATE***Pacioretty has signed for 4 more seasons in Vegas at $7 million per year
I wonder what the Kings offer was? ***UPDATE***
The inevitable has come to pass… The drama that was the “Pacioretty Situation” is now over.
And the Habs come out of it with the best C prospect they’ve had in years and a few truth bombs for good measure.
Late last night (for folks like me on GMT) Marc Bergevin moved the Montreal Canadiens captain to the Vegas Golden Knights for Nick Suzuki, 2019 2nd round pick (CBJ), and Tomas Tatar.
Suzuki is the key to this deal for Montreal as they add another top 6 potential Center with HUGE upside. The 19 year old native of London, ON has had himself an extremely impressive junior career so far in Owen Sound of the OHL. The pivot has had two straight 40+ goal seasons (45, 42) and hit 100 points in 65 games last season.
In fact, the last two seasons have Suzuki at 97 G and 109 A in 129 games on teams where he is the top player to contain on his team. The fact he’s accomplished all that as opponents #1 target to shut down is pretty fantastic. His 42 G and 58 A in 64 games was good enough for 4th overall in OHL scoring for 2017-18.
The Canadiens can now boast a C prospect depth chart that will read: Suzuki, Poehling, and Kotkaniemi. Suzuki is close to ready to play, Poehling will likely crack the roster next season after giving one more go at College, and that gives Kotkaniemi the time he needs to develop naturally and without rushing.
The addition of the 2nd round choice is nice considering how well MTL did in that round this past draft, but it would have been nice to have it be a 1st rounder. The return of a elite C prospect is likely why there was no 1st round pick though and at this moment in time it’s understandable.
Tatar was a major boneheaded trade by Vegas GM McPhee last deadline and he’s moved him along after his coach benched him for most of the postseason run the Knights had. The cost was astronomical for Tatar in a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick, but McPhee is McPhee. Don’t chirp me with “GM of the Year Smiles!” Buddy had the best expansion draft rules in the history of expansion drafts and he had some guys play way over their heads. Check the general commentary in the hockey world about how they think the Golden Knights will do and it’s a resounding “Regress”.
Will Pacioretty help them? For sure, if he cares apparently. The Knights lost a lot of production from last year in Neal and Perron so at least now they stopped that bleed of goals. But for a new GM to deal as much as he did for Tatar, then add him and a 2nd to arguably their best C prospect in Suzuki for a soon to be 30 year old winger who shows up for the regular season but rarely for the playoffs is a bit wild in my eyes.
SUZUKI MODELS GAME AFTER PATRICE BERGERON
Here’s a great excerpt from NHL.com's August 2017 article about the Golden Knights top prospects that should give some insight to those who aren’t very well versed on Suzuki yet.
“Suzuki, 18, said he tries to model his game after Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron, one of the NHL's best two-way players. Suzuki isn't big (5-11, 183) but he's a good skater and hard to knock off the puck. After a superb regular season, he had 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 17 Ontario Hockey League playoff games.”
McPhee said he was impressed by Suzuki's hockey sense. ‘I think you can say that about all three of those players: Glass, Suzuki and [Erik] Brannstrom," McPhee said of the Golden Knights' first-round draft choices. "They're all highly intelligent players. They process the game very well and they make plays. They make things happen. That is the real strength of all three of them.’”
Elite Prospects has a pretty glowing assessment of Suzuki on his profile page as well:
A smart offensive center who thinks the game at a fast pace and makes very good decisions on a consistent basis. Though he may not be the biggest player on the ice, Suzuki plays a thick, sturdy game and is hard to knock off the puck, especially when he has his feet moving. He's an excellent skater that knows his own game well. Skilled with the puck and has a high level of hockey sense. This blend of talent and work ethic is hard to come by, invaluable in the long run.
The newest Hab has the smarts and skills to be dominant and become an impact player. We should all be very happy to add him to the organization. A team with no Center prospect depth now has one of the best depth charts in the NHL.
You asked and Marc Bergevin has delivered. Rejoice.
TRUTH HURTS…
Along with waking up to this Pacioretty deal I also noticed that Molson and Bergevin confirmed that Pacioretty asked to be dealt multiple times last season…
This was a shocker as Max and his agent had mentioned many times their desire to stay in MTL. Some in the media looked to frame this as Habs management being disingenuous but it sure seems to make a lot of sense. Pacioretty didn’t really seem to give a whole lot of A+ effort last season and the team looked a bit rudderless after Weber went down.
Did Pacioretty’s trade requests effect the locker room? Did he quit being the best leader he could be and it affected others on the team? Was there any locker room issues as a result? We likely won’t know for certain, but when Carey Price greets the media with humor after the Captain of the Canadiens is dealt I can’t assume he’s broken up about it. In fact, he stated that he was basically waiting for the news.
NEW CAPTAIN TO BE NAMED, POSSIBLY BEFORE SEASON BEGINS
The Habs brass also stated that they will name a new Captain of the Montreal Canadiens, the 27th in team history I believe, after a few weeks of deliberation so I’m going to presume they aren’t going with the “Team Vote” concept again after it apparently is how the whole PK vs Pacioretty rumors began.
I would much rather have the coaches and management name someone they believe can handle the duties at this point with the roster they have. Plus, I mean, is it really going to be that hard a decision to make? The team has Shea Weber and Brendan Gallagher on it FFS. Take your pick and it will be the right call.
At this point you can make a case for Plekanec too, the guy who didn’t want to leave, got the Habs a hell of a rental return, and then came back immediately.
I doubt Pleky is named Captain though. It’s likely going to Shea Weber with Plek and Gallagher as alternates and I have ZERO issue with that, if that’s the case. Much better than a Captain who requests trades out of town but lies to the public saying he wants to sign long term…. At least we know why there wasn’t any extension talks right?
IN THE END….
Thanks to Max Pacioretty for his work as Captain of greatest team in the history of hockey. It’s not an easy task and he did his best for as long as he could. He did a great deal for the city of Montreal and will be remembered fondly in the long run.
Right now it stings to hear he was asking to be dealt going back to last year when we were all wondering why he looked out of sorts, but the truth is out there now.
I just never like hearing about trade requests from top players in season. I obviously thought he should be dealt for business reasons, but when the team suffered like it did last year and looking so lost I now can’t help but wonder if these multiple trade requests had an affect on the team.
I think people trusted with leadership should do just that and if the burden is too much to bear than hand it off for the betterment of the group.
With a new Captain incoming that’s what we will be getting after that nightmare of a season and with the two obvious choices being Weber and Gallagher I couldn’t be more excited to see the newly stitched C on one of these two true warriors and leaders.
So farewell Max, good luck in Vegas. I hope it’s what you wanted and what you feel is best for you and your family.
Welcome Suzuki and Tatar to hockeys most historic franchise, feel free to blow the roof off the Bell Centre on arrival and become heroes of the city.
Go Habs Go!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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