Max Pacioretty signed a one-year, $873,770 contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.
The 35-year-old forward took part in training camp on a professional tryout contract. He had 23 points (four goals, 19 assists) in 47 games for the Washington Capitals last season and one assist in four Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"It means a lot," Pacioretty said. "No matter what was talked about before, it's just always surreal and you come in and don't know what to expect in terms of the group and fitting in and you kind of have those butterflies as to whether it's going to work. I'm just really excited to be here.
"Training camp was unlike any one I've ever had in the sense that you are trying to use it to get into shape and get ready but at the same time impress people, so it was unique in that sense. It was a very hard camp in a good way, exactly what I needed to get up to speed. I don't feel I'd been up to speed in a while now and I feel like I'm there now and now I can work on my game and fine tune the little areas of my game knowing my legs are in shape."
Pacioretty, chosen by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round (No. 22) of the 2007 NHL Draft, has 668 points (330 goals, 338 assists) in 902 regular-season games for the Canadiens, Vegas Golden Knights, Carolina Hurricanes and Capitals, and 50 points (25 goals, 25 assists) in 78 playoff games. He was named the 29th captain of the Canadiens on Sept. 18, 2015, and held the title until being traded to the Golden Knights on Sept. 10, 2018.
"At this stage of my career, the most important thing is winning and I feel like this group has a chance to win," Pacioretty said. "There's a lot of strong players and you don't just want to be along for the ride, you want to contribute. You want to help and I feel like there are some areas I've played in the past that can help the team win and some new roles that can help the team win so it's a new challenge for me."
Steven Lorentz and Cade Webber also signed with the Maple Leafs. Lorentz, a 28-year-old forward, received a one-year, $775,000 contract coming off a Stanley Cup championship with the Florida Panthers. The Kitchener, Ontario, native had three points (one goal, two assists) in 38 regular-season games and three points (two goals, one assist) in 16 postseason games.
"To be able to officially sign and to be able to go forward with a group like this is super special," Lorentz said. "I just looked at the lineup here and thought there was a lot of potential to come in and obviously with the talent offensively they have that I could carve out a role in the bottom six. Just to play my game and bring the experience that I learned last year, it was an opportunity that every kid would dream of, especially coming from this area of town, being just an hour away, it was my dream to be a Leaf my whole life."
Webber, a 23-year-old defenseman, got a two-year, two-way contract beginning with the 2025-26 season, a deal that becomes one way in 2026-27 with an average annual value of $825,000. He had six assists in 38 games for Boston University last season and helped it reach the Frozen Four. He had 16 points (one goal, 15 assists) in 123 NCAA games and was named Hockey East's Best Defensive Defenseman for 2023-24.
"Both of them had good camps," Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. "They've got size, can skate. They're different players I get that but both pretty important so I'm happy about that."
NHL.com independent correspondent Dave McCarthy contributed to this report
