Unfortunate News For Max Pacioretty Ahead Of Toronto's Game Against The New York Rangers

Signing with the Maple Leafs on a PTO this summer, Max Pacioretty impressed enough to earn himself a contract and was expected to bring veteran leadership as well as some scoring depth to Toronto's bottom half of the lineup. The former Montreal Canadiens captain opened up the season with Toronto's first goal but has slowly seen his time diminished since then, including being a healthy scratch against Los Angeles on Wednesday.

It may be another game that Pacioretty will have to wait in order to play, as he was seen skating with the extra forwards during practice on Friday which is a potential indicator he's not lacing up the skates on Saturday night vs. New York either.

Per Michael Mazzei's article - Leafs Practice Notes, he noted that Pacioretty's absence with the main squad is an indicator he's fallen a bit out of favor when it comes to Craig Berube's options.

For his career, Pacioretty has been as consistent as any player, scoring near identical numbers in both goals and assists with 331 and 338 respectively. Not far removed from averaging 24 goals with Vegas, Pacioretty can also be counted on to help in the playoffs; something Toronto desperately needs to be successful.

The Maple Leafs had an incredible fire about them on Wednesday against Los Angeles and showed no signs of slowing down with Pacioretty out of the lineup. Perhaps if they keep riding this wave of success it'll be more press box parties for 'Patches', which would be an unfortunate turn of events after the past two miserable seasons for him.