Earlier this week, it was reported that Toronto was one of the teams showing interest in unrestricted free agent winger Max Pacioretty. Evidently, they’re not the only Atlantic Division squad that has some interest in the veteran as Arthur Staple of The Athletic adds that the Red Wings are believed to be interested in adding the veteran as well.
The 35-year-old spent last season with Washington after inking a one-year, $2M contract which also carried another $2M in performance bonuses which were reached once he played in 20 games. While Pacioretty was able to play in that many games, last season was still an injury-riddled campaign as he worked his way back from his second torn Achilles tendon sustained in the 2022-23 season while playing for Carolina.
As a result, Pacioretty was limited to just 47 games last season. A six-time 30-goal scorer, he struggled considerably in that department, scoring just four times although he was able to add 19 assists to stay near the half-point-per-game rate. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the type of performance that gave him some bargaining power heading into free agency.
The Red Wings have already been active up front with their free agent moves this summer. They re-signed wingers Patrick Kane and Christian Fischer, added wingers Vladimir Tarasenko and Tyler Motte and also inked Austin Watson to a PTO agreement. Considering they still have to re-sign wingers Lucas Raymond and Jonatan Berggren (plus defenseman Moritz Seider), it’s hard to see a viable fit for Pacioretty.
While the veteran is believed to have interest from multiple teams, that shouldn’t be enough leverage to land much more than the league minimum of $775K at this point of free agency so this could be a case of Detroit viewing Pacioretty as a low-cost depth option over someone worthy of a full-time lineup spot. In that scenario, adding him could make some sense. But until they finalize contracts with their three remaining RFAs to get a better sense of what they have to work with financially, it would be a little surprising to see the Red Wings commit any sort of guaranteed contract to Pacioretty or any other free agent.
