In the wee hours of Monday morning, the much-publicized uncertainty surrounding Max Pacioretty's future in Montreal came to an end, as the Canadiens dealt their captain to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for forward Tomas Tatar, prospect Nick Suzuki, and a 2019 second-round draft selection.
In addition, Pacioretty inked a four-year, $28M extension to complete the deal, while Montreal retains 10 percent of his 2018-19 salary ($4.5M), and Vegas holds on to $500,000 of Tatar's ($4.91M) until 2021.
Now that the dust has settled on arguably the biggest trade of the offseason, let's asses each team's haul.
Golden Knights
Vegas appears adamant on remaining a threat in the Western Conference, and adding Pacioretty to its top six should help their quest to prove last season's impossible run to the Stanley Cup Final wasn't a fluke.
It would be ludicrous to split up the top line of William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, and Reilly Smith after their showing last year, meaning Pacioretty can slot in on the second line alongside fellow newcomer Paul Stastny - an elite playmaker far superior to any pivot Montreal was able to run out over the course of Pacioretty's tenure there.
Given Stastny's passing prowess, there's a logical connection between him and Pacioretty - one of the best shooters in the NHL. Since 2011-12, only eight players league-wide have outproduced his 206 goals, and his struggles last season are more than likely an anomaly, as injuries limited him to 64 appearances and he shot just eight percent compared to his career average of 11. Given a fresh start and easier competition down the lineup, it's easy to picture Pacioretty returning to the 30-goal mark he's eclipsed five times in his career.
Even after giving up three assets for one player, Vegas escapes the deal in pretty good shape. The acquisition of Tatar at last season's trade deadline was a mistake from the get-go, as general manager George McPhee parted with first, second and third round picks for six points in 20 regular season games, and a seat in the press box for most of the Golden Knights march to the finals.
Most GMs would have such a regrettable deal pinned on them for years, but even after tying on another draft pick to move Tatar out of town after just six months, McPhee still owns five picks in the first three rounds in each of the next two drafts, and a much better player to supplement his attack.
Suzuki's departure takes away one of Vegas' top prospects, but that's the cost of business, and McPhee could afford it with blue chippers Cody Glass, Lucas Elvenes, Nikita Gusev, Erik Brannstrom, and Nicolas Hague still in the farm system.
Grade: A
Canadiens
After holding on to Pacioretty through the trade deadline and draft - though a deal did come close - Marc Bergevin lost major leverage, and made matters worse when he went public in saying he wants to trade his captain ASAP and wouldn't negotiate an extension.
Montreal's return can't be properly determined until we get a clearer picture on what Suzuki can become at the NHL level. He's the primary piece of the Habs' return, and has scored 196 points in his last 129 games with the OHL's Owen Sound Attack. Suzuki immediately becomes one of the Canadiens' top prospects along with 2018 No. 3 pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi, but is likely a year or two away from making any significant impact on an NHL roster.
In Tatar, the Habs fill out their lineup with a player touted for his offensive ability, but who has issues with consistency. The 27-year-old racked up 34 points last season - the lowest mark of his career since becoming a regular NHLer. Montreal ranked 29th in goals last season and the addition of Tatar alone isn't going to do much to change that.
With training camp set to begin later this week, Bergevin was running out of time to orchestrate a deal for another piece of the Canadiens core. Since the 2015-16, he's cut ties with P.K. Subban, Alex Galchenyuk, Mikhail Sergachev and now Pacioretty via trade. The return on this most recent deal didn't induce the same level of immediate angst as his previous ones, mainly because he recouped multiple assets instead of another one-for-one exchange.
Still, a small-impact roster replacement, a promising prospect and an additional second-round lottery ticket isn't as much as it could have been for one of this era's most consistent scorers and captain of the NHL's oldest franchise, had Montreal played its hand more efficiently.
Grade: B-
(Photos Courtesy: Getty Images)
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