TORONTO – Veteran forward Max Pacioretty and the Toronto Maple Leafs agreed to a professional tryout on Wednesday.
The 35-year-old played in 47 games last season with the Washington Capitals, scoring four goals and dishing out 19 assists.
Pacioretty returned to action last season after suffering a second tear of his Achilles tendon in January 2023, having only played five games for Carolina in 2022-23.
The first tear of his Achilles tendon came in the summer of 2022, a short time after being traded to the Hurricanes from the Vegas Golden Knights.
Pacioretty’s agent, Allan Walsh, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it is expected Pacioretty signs a deal with the Leafs before the start of the season.
The six-foot-two, 217-pound winger has 330 goals and 338 assists in 902 career games, having spent his first 10 years in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens.
Also, Toronto confirmed that it had signed defenceman Jani Hakanpaa to a one-year contract. The value of the contract is $1.47 million.
Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving had announced the signing on July 1 but the details weren’t released until Wednesday.
The 32-year-old Hakanpaa had two goals and 10 assists in 64 games with the Dallas Stars during the 2023-24 season.
In 288 career NHL regular-season games, the native of Kirkkonummi, Finland has 15 goals, 30 assists and 173 penalty minutes split between Anaheim, Carolina and Dallas while adding a goal and three assists in 33 career playoff games.
The six-foot-seven, 225-pound defenceman was selected by St. Louis in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL Draft.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.