It Looks as Though 17-Year Veteran and Former Montreal Canadiens Captain Hangs ‘Em Up

Pacioretty in the News as He Appears to Be Retiring

Pacioretty spent last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs after originally agreeing to a professional tryout contract. In 37 games with the Maple Leafs, Pacioretty scored five goals and recorded 13 points.

The 17-year veteran had scored 335 goals with five different teams. He managed to make it to 939 career regular season games, and finishing with 399 assists for a total of 788 points. He had a very successful NHL career, that included three years of captaincy for the mighty Montreal Canadiens franchise. After starting his career with the Montreal Canadiens, Pacioretty joined the Vegas Golden Knights. Pacioretty then played single seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals before his stint in Toronto last season.

Nine times in his NHL career he played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There was more than one occasion that left some desire for more, but overall he was a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs. In 89 hard fought games, he tallied 28 goals and 30 assists. One series in particular, despite ultimately losing in 2019 in the first round to the San Jose Sharks, Pacioretty had multi-point performances in each of the first four games of that series. However, he was held to just a goal in the final three games, as the Sharks won three-straight games to move on.

As we said, Pacioretty was a dominant playoff performer when he was on. It was a bit unlucky given him moving around between teams he never won more playoff games.

Former Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy Winner

Pacioretty was lucky, in some sense, to have carved out such a long and impressive 17-year NHL career. You may recall the scary incident that raised doubt as to whether he would play again.

On March 8, 2011, Pacioretty was checked by Boston Bruins defenceman, Zdeno Chara. The force of the hit caused Pacioretty to collide with a stanchion at the end of the bench. Pacioretty was diagnosed with a 4th cervical vertebra and a grade 2 concussion.

Pacioretty would recover and score 33 goals the following season. As a result of his recovery and performance following a scary injury, Pacioretty was awarded the Bill Masterson Trophy, the award given to the player who demonstrates dedication and perseverance to the game of hockey.

Congrats to this great NHLer, and all the best in his next endeavours.