With the Caps needing to get younger and dealing with a tight salary cap situation (as usual), it was unlikely that they were going to be big players in free agency this summer – and early into Day 1 of the free agency period, their only action had been to swing a trade with Montreal for depth defenseman Joel Edmundson.
That changed when Brian MacLellan and company dipped their toe into the UFA pool and snagged Max Pacioretty, the 34-year-old winger who most recently suited up for Carolina before getting injured last season…which we’ll get to in a second. Coming off a four-year, $28M contract, Pacioretty inked a deal with the Caps for a cap-friendly one year at $2M, with the potential for an additional $2M in bonuses.
So why the low price and bonus-heavy deal?
That all goes back to Pacioretty’s injury, a re-rupture back in January of the same Achilles’ tendon he hurt during offseason training the previous summer.
Here’s a quick overview from ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski:
“Since Pacioretty has 400 career games and spent 100 days on LTIR last season, he was eligible for a performance bonus-laden contract this season. Performance bonuses count against the salary cap; however, a team can exceed the salary cap due to performance bonuses by the maximum performance bonus cushion amount of 7.5% of the upper limit. It’s only after the season that the impact is really felt.”
That right there is the biggest upside: the price. The Caps get a veteran with over 600 points in 855 career games and a six-time 30-goal scorer at a fraction of what he’d commanded just a few years ago. Even the bonus is set up to benefit the team’s cap situation. Pacioretty’s bonus payout is structured by games played, and any bonus he receives will count against the 2024-25 cap – when the Caps are likely to have some more wiggle room.
He won’t be ready for the season-opener but sounds like he’s targeting a return shortly after, and if he can come back healthy – and stay that way – the Caps could get a massive boost to their top-six. The potential reward is definitely there.
So…what about the risk?
As has been the case with a few of Pacioretty’s new Washington teammates, age is certainly a factor; recovering from a severe injury just a few months shy of turning 35 is tough, especially when it’s a repeat injury that’s now required two surgeries in a short timeframe. Add in the fact that Pacioretty hasn’t played a full 82-game slate since 2016-17 (and likely won’t again this season), this is not a home-run signing.
The Caps seem willing to take on that risk with the potential for it being a non-factor. Pacioretty has scored or been on pace to score 30 goals in every season of his career. While the team is tight to the salary cap, and $2M is not nothing because of that, the risk is relatively low – and with a healthy Pacioretty, this could end up being a bargain.
Check out some of Pacioretty’s recent highlights to see what the Caps could be getting: