Ducks Potential PTO Candidate: Max Pacioretty

NHL training camps are set to begin in mid to late Sept. It’s a time when teams invite current free agents to participate in their camps as PTOs (Professional Tryout) to get a firsthand look and determine if they’d like to offer them a contract.

To date, three teams have already invited players to their training camps on PTOs; the Tampa Bay Lightning have invited Logan Brown, the Washington Capitals have invited Jakub Vrana, and the Vegas Golden Knights have invited Tanner Pearson.

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Pat Verbeek has been at the helm of the Anaheim Ducks for two training camps in his tenure (2022 and 2023) and has utilized PTOs in both instances. The most notable among them were Zack Kassian and Scott Harrington in 2023. Neither earned a contract with the team. Nathan Beaulieu was invited to Ducks training camp in 2022 and earned a contract, playing 52 games with the Ducks in 2022-23.

Heading into the 2024 offseason, Verbeek stated his desire to add a top-six forward and top-four defenseman to the Ducks roster. He made a couple of big offers, didn’t land the big fish he sought, and instead traded for defenseman Brian Dumoulin and forward Robby Fabbri.

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The Ducks roster could still benefit from adding a bonafide talent at the top of the forward group.

Perhaps the most high-profile name left on the free agency market is former Montreal Canadiens captain, Max Pacioretty.

Once upon a time, Pacioretty (35) was one of the NHL’s premier goal-scorers and a nearly automatic shoo-in for 30 goals per season.

After a four-year stretch where he scored 141 goals between 2013 and 2017, his production took a bit of a dip before it was resurrected when he was traded from Montreal to Vegas before the 2018-19 season.

After a few playoff runs with the Golden Knights, Pacioretty fell victim to the injury bug. He missed a large chunk of the 2021-22 season due to wrist surgery and lower-body injury, but still managed 37 points in 39 games.

He was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in July of 2022 and tore his Achilles tendon during off-season training in August. He returned in Jan. 2023 only to tear his Achilles again.