The Vegas Golden Knights have signed newly-acquired forward Max Pacioretty to a
 four-year contract worth $28 million, the team announced Monday. The Golden
Knights acquired Pacioretty in the late stages of Sunday night (or early Monday
 morning for Montreal) and it didn';t take them long to negotiate a new deal
for the veteran goal scorer.

We may have only met late last night

but when you know 

you knowhttps://t.co/nYBSC16EdQ

- Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) September 10, 2018

Over the course of his 10-year NHL career, Pacioretty has scored an impressive
226 goals and 448 points in 626 games. One of the elite goal-scorers in the NHL
 despite a down season in 2017-18, Pacioretty has scored north of 30 goals in
five consecutive full seasons, not including the lockout-shortened 2012-13
season when he would still score 15 goals and 39 points in 44 games.Quick Work
for the Golden Knights

While Pacioretty was unable to find common ground with the Montreal Canadiens -
 the team that drafted him in the first round in 2007, a team he was even the
captain of for a few seasons, the Golden Knights had no issue negotiating a
deal with him to get him locked up for the immediate future. This deal is as
good a deal as it gets in the NHL as the Golden Knights are paying Pacioretty
roughly market value, perhaps even a little less than he may have gotten on the
 open market, while also avoiding long-term ramifications that come along with
a five-to-eight-year deal.

Pacioretty will play out the final year of his contract this season and his new
 deal will take him all the way through his age-34 season. For the Golden
Knights, this timeline also intersects with what they believe their
championship window should be given the fact that they shocked the world and
competed for the Stanley Cup in their inaugural season.

The Golden Knights had an advantage that the Canadiens simply didn';t in that
there is no state tax in Nevada, making a four-year deal look appealing to
Pacioretty given the actual dollars he';d be earning in Vegas versus what he';d
 be earning had he stayed in Montreal. There';s also the fact that the
Canadiens reportedly weren';t willing to negotiate with Pacioretty in the first
 place which might make the point moot altogether.The Vegas Golden Knights have
 signed newly-acquired forward Max Pacioretty to a four-year contract extension
 (Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports)

The Golden Knights signing Pacioretty to an extension so soon after acquiring
him given they';re very high on him as a player. If they weren';t, they
wouldn';t have sent a prospect like Nick Suzuki to the Canadiens as a part of
this package. Nonetheless, both the Canadiens and the Golden Knights should
benefit from this deal given their current trajectories.

The Golden Knights are looking to compete right now and their future still has
some bright pieces in the mix. The Canadiens, on the other hand, are a team
looking to rebuild their team both in terms of personnel and culture. While
Pacioretty may have been a fan-favorite, the writing was on the wall and a
trade involving him went from a "what if" scenario to a "when" and "where"
scenario. In the end, it was time to move on for both sides.

The post Golden Knights Extend Pacioretty appeared first on The Hockey Writers.

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