One of the hottest names in the rumor mill these days is Vegas Golden Knights forward, Max Pacioretty. The Rangers always seem interested, no matter who is available.
Are the Rangers interested in Pacioretty?
Jimmy Murphy of Florida Hockey Now reports that multiple sources are telling him Vegas is indeed listening to offers for Pacioretty. He also relayed that two teams circled back with Vegas while a handful of teams are interested.
One source told Murphy the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins have circled back to Pacioretty. The New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, and Buffalo Sabres are also said to be interested.
Spector’s Hockey
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NHL Rumors: Golden Knights aggressive on trade market
The Golden Knights are up against the cap and need to fix it. Recent reporting suggests they were aggressively shopping Max Pacioretty. According to Frank Seravalli, “The Vegas Golden Knights have doubled down in recent days and weeks in an attempt to move Max Pacioretty.”
Moving the 32 year-old Max Pacioretty won’t be easy. He comes with a $7 million cap hit with three years left on his deal. In order for the Knights to move that they will have to giving up a high draft pick and possibly eat up to 50% of his cap number.
The major problems with the rumor
If the salary wasn’t a big enough issue, even at 50% retention there’s a much larger problem. Pacioretty is a left wing which makes fitting him an issue. Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Alexis Lafreniere, and Brendan Lemieux already have the left side on lock down.
Bottom line, Pacioretty doesn’t make sense.
