Washington Capitals sign Max Pacioretty to one-year contract

Max Pacioretty is back, baby.

The Washington Capitals have signed Pacioretty to a one-year, $2 million contract with the potential for another $2 million in bonuses.

Pacioretty is coming off a season that saw him skate in just five games with the Carolina Hurricanes. He scored three goals with the club after missing the final 52 games (regular season and playoffs) with a torn Achilles.

Despite this setback, when healthy, Pacioretty remains one of the league’s premier snipers. He has 326 goals and 645 points over 855 games, with his snapshot being his most lethal asset. He’s a six-time 60-plus-point forward, last achieving that with 32 goals and 66 points with Vegas in 2019-20. Pacioretty was excellent during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, recording 51 points in 48 games. He also has 49 points in 74 playoff games with Montreal and Vegas.

Staying healthy has been a concern for Pacioretty, who has played 70-plus games just once over the past seven games.

If healthy, Pacioretty could be a valuable scoring option for cheap. He could slot into a top six that currently includes Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom. The Capitals have $3.563 million in projected cap space with just Martin Fehervary being the lone RFA on the roster.