After 2 Torn Achilles In 5 Months, Pacioretty Aims To Resurrect Career With Capitals: 'I'm Still The Player I Once Was'

The 34-year-old sees the Capitals as a place where he can get back on track following back-to-back Achilles tears.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Max Pacioretty doesn't like to dwell on the past. As he meets with the media, he takes questions in stride about his recent adversity with injuries and speaks matter-of-factly about suffering two consecutive right ruptured Achilles tendons, but he uses those questions to look forward.

And that's his main goal as he begins the next chapter of his career with the Capitals, a team that he thinks he can thrive with and take a big step as he looks to piece back together a somewhat fractured second half of his career.

"This was a unique situation for me," Pacioretty said. "I've never been a free agent before. And obviously, coming off an injury, there are a couple of scenarios of how it could have played out. At the end of the day, I just thought Washington was a great opportunity to show and prove that I'm still the player that I once was."

There's no denying Pacioretty's skill set. The former Montreal Canadiens captain spent years making the highlight reels and dazzling with his goal-scoring ability. He has six 30-goal seasons under his belt, and his 236 goals from 2013-14 to 2020-21 were the seventh-most in the NHL over that span.

His speed, booming shot and quick hands had helped him display consistency over the course of his career, which continued even after his trade from the Canadiens to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Then, two years ago, things took a nosedive. In 2021-22, he appeared in just 39 games for Vegas due to a lower-body injury and wrist surgery, but he still put up 19 goals and 18 assists.

Then, after being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2022 offseason and feeling confident he could thrive in Carolina, he suffered his first torn Achilles training in August that would keep him out for months. He made his 2022-23 season debut in January following a lengthy rehab, and he impressed with three goals in five games in his return before tragedy struck again.

In the third period of a Jan. 21 game against the Minnesota Wild, Pacioretty was playing the puck on the goal line and skating when something tweaked. He went down in visible pain and suffered the same injury, resulting in another surgery and lost season.

The 34-year-old explained that he and his medical team now understand why the same tendon tore twice, though he isn't personally ready to share the explanation at this time.

"When you do get re-injured, it's time to take a step back and try to analyze what went wrong, and we feel we have a good grasp on all that... if you're gonna take a bright spot, it's I know what to expect when you kinda hit those milestones and how you should feel and how hard to force it and whatnot," Pacioretty said. "A big milestone or a big part of the process was to figure kind of what went wrong and kind of build off that.

"Well, it's tough to talk about, I mean, we know that information. It's tough for me to personally talk about it... One thing I do want to focus on is moving forward and making sure it doesn't happen again. So to be positive and to think about the future, I kind of want to focus on that, respectfully."

After hitting free agency, Pacioretty explored a number of options but decided to sign with the Capitals for one simple reason: belief. He believes in the group, but he also believes in himself that he can return to top form and be a key top-6 contributor. The roster, which features long-time foe Alex Ovechkin, was also a major pull.

"I think when you look at the roster, there's some obvious things that stick out. There's at least three playmaking centermen and that's always fun as a goal-scorer and expected goal-scorer to play with guys who want to distribute the puck," Pacioretty said. "You know, Ovi's obviously the best goal-scorer to ever play. I can learn a lot from him.

"And you know, at the end of the day, this is a big-boy lineup," he added. "There's a lot of big bodies in this lineup, and we all know that when you get to the playoffs -- if you get to the playoffs -- that's a good way to make some teams pay and wear them down. I really like this team; I think I can contribute by helping them score goals, maybe help out on the power play and you know, that being said, I'm focused on getting healthy,  and when I do come back, that's what I hope to do."

The 6-foot-2, 217-pound winger also liked the idea of D.C. and, as a family man first, he wanted to avoid signing with teams that were too far up against the cap or were signing a number of deals, as that would lead to uncertainty during the course of the season.

"I think there's a lot of unknowns [with some teams] and there's not much you can do there," he explained. "You know, I have five kids. Family's the most important thing to me."

Pacioretty also liked the structure of the deal. Though it's a downgrade from the $7 million he was making per year on his last deal, this one-year, $2 million pact is bonus heavy and dependent on games played.

If he plays at least 10 games, he gets a bonus of $1 million, and that goes up $500,000 for 15 games played and another $500,000 for 20. Having that incentive was appealing to Pacioretty, especially considering that he wants to put any adversity and that reputation of injuries behind him.

Pacioretty said that his current recovery and rehabilitation are going very well, and he's expected to be ready to take the ice not too long after the start of the season. And, at the end of the day, No. 67 is ready to make his impact known and wants to send a clear message to the NHL: he's not giving up, and he's ready to do some damage.

"All I can do right now is do whatever it takes to come back and be healthy and ready as quickly and come back as strong as possible, and that's the work I'm willing to put in," Pacioretty said.

"I'm really happy, and I feel very blessed that I was able to come to this conclusion... To be able to come to a team that I feel can have a very good year and that I can contribute and personally show that I'm capable of playing this game at the level I once was, for me, I feel blessed that I have this opportunity."