The Maple Leafs have signed forwards Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz to one-year deals after they attended training camp on professional tryouts, the team announced Monday. They’ve also signed pending restricted free agent defenseman Cade Webber to a two-year extension, keeping him under contract through the 2026-27 season.
Pacioretty’s deal is a 35+ contract with a cap hit of $873,770 with up to $626,230 in additional performance bonuses, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports. He’ll receive half those bonuses if he plays 10 games this season and all if he plays 35. The total potential value of the contract is $1.5MM. Lorentz’s deal is a straightforward one-way, league-minimum pact worth $775K, per Seravalli. Webber’s contract carries an $825K cap hit and is a two-way deal in 2025-26 before becoming a one-way pact in 2026-27, adds Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic.
Pacioretty, 35, is looking to get back on track in Toronto after a pair of Achilles tendon tears cost him most of the past two seasons. After playing just five games with the Hurricanes in 2022-23, he signed with the Capitals last summer. He made his season debut after completing his recovery in January, but his goal-scoring output plummeted from years past. ’Patches’ shot just 4.2%, scoring four goals in 47 contests while adding 19 assists for 23 points.
The former Canadiens captain is a six-time 30-goal scorer, though. While he likely won’t land top-six minutes in Toronto and thus has virtually no chance of replicating that feat, his shooting percentage should rebound to its usual 10 to 12 percent and put him back on track for double-digit scoring totals in a third-line role if he stays healthy. That’s certainly a big if, considering he hasn’t played more than 50 games in a season since the 2019-20 campaign. Still, he’ll likely open the season as the team’s 3LW alongside Pontus Holmberg and Bobby McMann or Nicholas Robertson.
Lorentz, 28, brings a Stanley Cup ring and 230 games of NHL experience to Toronto’s fourth line. The natural center played 16 of the Panthers’ 24 playoff games last year en route to the franchise’s first championship, scoring twice and adding an assist for three points with a -1 rating while averaging 7:07 per game. He won’t be much of an offensive factor, averaging seven goals and 15 points per 82 games throughout his regular season career. But he’s serviceable enough in the faceoff dot, winning 48.7% of his…
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