Canadiens Deal Pacioretty to Vegas

			2018 Season				July 1st, 2019
To Vegas	POS	Age	GP	Goals	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Max Pacioretty	F	29	64	17	37	$4.05 mil	4	$7 mil
Retained Salary						$500k	2	$500k
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To Montreal	POS	Age	GP	Goals	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Tomas Tatar	F	27	82	20	34	$4.8 mil	2	$4.8 mil
Nick Suzuki	F	19	0	0	0	$894k	2	$894k
2019 2nd Round Draft Pick
Retained Salary						$450k	0	$0

Well, the week really started with a bang, didn't it?

The Max Pacioretty era in Montreal is now officially over and it came in a deal that sent him to the Vegas Golden Knights for a significant package and a new contract extension.  The package going back includes a roster player in Tomas Tatar, a top end prospect in forward Nick Suzuki and a 2nd round pick next summer, which all told, doesn't look like a terrible return for a player that didn't want to be in Montreal anymore.

After the deal went down, the Golden Knights announced that they inked a deal with their new acquisition, giving him a 4-year, $28 million deal, helping to cement the future of his stay for the next five seasons.

What does it all really mean?  Well, both the Canadiens and Golden Knights end up shifting a headache in this deal, as the future of Pacioretty was a looming dark cloud in Montreal, while the deal that Vegas made for Tatar, didn't loom quite as large, but didn't look very good, after they sent a 1st round pick to Detroit to acquire him.  Montreal picked up a pair of really good futures in Suzuki (a 2017 1st rounder) and the pick, so they did okay, considering the harsh position they were put in with all the trade rumours of their now-former captain.

I think Pacioretty has some major gains in Monday's transaction, as he gets a new place to play, a brand new contract and a brand new outlook on life in the NHL.  I am not really prepared to say that he is an elite player that his new extension may suggest, but I would go so far as to say that his projections for the coming season are going to be much better than initially set out, now up to around the 60-point range.  Tatar, on the other hand, doesn't look quite as good after this move, as I thought a training camp and time with Vegas could have helped his projection, but moving to the lesser Montreal roster sets him back down, now down to the 35-point range, about where he finished last season.  Suzuki could be one to watch in camp for Montreal, given their lack of depth, there could be a spot open for him as quickly as this year.