The Canadiens have come a long way offensively from the days when Max Pacioretty was carrying the load almost by himself.
Last season, Montreal finished with the sixth-most goals in the NHL, and two players hit rare heights: Cole Caufield became the first Canadiens player to reach 50 goals since 1990, while Nick Suzuki was the first to get to 100 points since 1986. That kind of production stands in sharp contrast to the version of the Canadiens Pacioretty played for in the 2010s, when goals were scarce and the scoring burden landed heavily on one winger.
Pacioretty arrived in Montreal as part of the club’s star-studded 2007 draft class, alongside P.K. Subban and Ryan McDonagh.
His first two seasons were quiet, with only six goals in 86 games, and he split time between the Canadiens and the Hamilton Bulldogs. Then things started to click in 2010-11.
After beginning the season with the Bulldogs, he was recalled and scored 14 goals in 37 games, a pace that pointed to what was coming.
The next year, Pacioretty became a true top-line force. He scored 33 goals and added 32 assists in 79 games for his first 30-goal season.
Erik Cole actually led the team with 35 goals that year, but that sort of balanced attack never really became the norm for Montreal during Pacioretty’s prime. Once the shortened 2012-13 season passed, he ripped off four straight seasons of 30-plus goals, including a career-high 39 in just 73 games in 2013-14.
That year also showed just how thin the Canadiens’ scoring depth was, with Tomas Plekanec next on the team with 20 goals.
Unlike Caufield now, Pacioretty did not get to work with a star centreman like Suzuki. For most of his best years in Montreal, David Desharnais was his center.
Desharnais had a couple of solid seasons, but he was not the kind of first-line pivot expected to match a scorer of Pacioretty’s caliber. Still, the Canadiens leaned on Pacioretty constantly, and in 2015 they made him the 29th captain in franchise history.
That move only added more pressure. After Brian Gionta left following the 2013-14 season, Montreal had options.
Andrei Markov was the obvious choice to some, though there had long been a sense he did not want the letter on his sweater. Tomas Plekanec also had a case, but management let the players vote.
Pacioretty got the most support, and on September 18, 2015, he was named captain.
The responsibility of leading the team came on top of his offensive workload, and things got messy quickly. Montreal missed the playoffs in Pacioretty’s first season as captain, and reports surfaced that tension was building between him and Subban over his leadership style. Both players denied there were any issues, but the situation clearly had friction.
Then came the blockbuster on June 29, 2016, when the Canadiens traded Subban to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber. From the outside, it looked like Montreal had sided with Pacioretty, and Weber brought another established leader into the room after serving as Nashville’s captain for six seasons.
Pacioretty kept scoring after becoming captain, putting up 30 goals and then 35 goals, but the third season turned south. The Canadiens again missed the playoffs, and Pacioretty failed to reach 30 goals for the first time since the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign.
By then, with one year left on his contract and the team sliding, Montreal moved him while his value was still strong. On September 10, 2018, the Canadiens sent Pacioretty and his scoring touch to the Vegas Golden Knights for Tomas Tatar, Suzuki and a second-round pick. The irony is obvious: the Canadiens spent years asking Pacioretty to produce without giving him the elite center he needed, then found that missing piece by trading him away.
Suzuki became a cornerstone of the rebuild and eventually wore the C himself. Pacioretty never got the offensive help he deserved in Montreal, but he still left a major mark on where the Canadiens are now.
In Other News...
Canadiens Blue Line Logjam Just Cost Them Another Young Defenseman
The Canadiens defensive depth has become one of the more persistent talking points around the organization, and William Trudeaus latest move is another sign of how crowded that lane has become. After several seasons with the Laval Rocket and only limited NHL opportunities in Montreal, the former Canadiens defenseman has moved on to the New York Rangers organization, where he sees a clearer path to the league.
Trudeau said the depth chart in Montreal was part of the equation, even as he spoke respectfully about his time with both the Canadiens and Laval. For a young blue-liner trying to turn steady development into an NHL look, the appeal of a fresh start is obvious, and his departure adds one more name to the list of prospects who found the road blocked before it ever really opened. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Face A Big Bolduc Decision Next To Suzuki And Caufield
Zachary Bolducs first season with the Canadiens offered both encouragement and frustration, which is usually how these things go when a player is trying to establish himself in Montreal. Acquired from the St. Louis Blues, he opened fast enough to make people notice, then settled into a more uneven stretch as the year wore on, with his production cooling off and his role shrinking at times.
Still, Bolducs playoff play gave the Canadiens something to think about going into next season, especially with the possibility of him being asked to skate in a far more prominent spot alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. For a team looking to sort out the best version of its top end, his progress in the spring matters almost as much as the uneven regular season that came before it. [Read more 🡒]
Kent Hughes May Be Ending The Canadiens Quiet Summer Soon
The Canadiens have spent much of late summer in a holding pattern, but that quiet stretch may be nearing an end. Montreal is expected to make at least one official announcement soon, and the buzz around the team has centered on Kent Hughes possibly closing the book on a relatively uneventful offseason with a late move or roster update.
The exact nature of the news remains unclear, with no confirmations yet from the club. Still, sources indicate something could break early in the week, giving Canadiens fans a fresh point of attention before the calendar turns fully toward the next phase of team business. [Read more 🡒]