Pacioretty's agent calls out Canadiens for starting false rumours

Max Pacioretty’s camp is sick and tired of the noise.

Rumours indicating that the Canadiens’ captain wants out of Montreal have been swirling since the trade deadline, despite Pacioretty’s insistence that he’s committed to the organization long-term.

Thursday’s new leaks which suggested that the pending UFA requested a trade at several points during last season appear to be the straw that finally broke the camel’s back, with Pacioretty’s agent Allan Walsh speaking out on Twitter.

Max Pacioretty has stated repeatedly that he loves Montreal and wants to remain in Montreal. To this date, he’s never received any offer from Montreal. You can have 3 sources or 10 sources, how many times does Max have to state that he wants to remain in Montreal long term?

— Allan Walsh (@walsha) August 30, 2018

Obvious these “sources” are coming from the club. Max will always take the high road and repeats again, he is ready to sign an extension with Montreal TODAY. It was Montreal that traded Max to LA at the draft and it was a DONE DEAL subject to Max signing an extension with LA. https://t.co/KsLbJ6prJr

— Allan Walsh (@walsha) August 30, 2018

The second tweet is particularly bold; insinuating the team as the source of these rumours. Walsh goes on to state that Pacioretty is ready to sign an extension with Montreal today, and suggests that it was the club that showed its desire to move on from Pacioretty with its trade to LA – one that fell through because he was unwilling to re-sign with the Kings.

Walsh’s claims hold some credibility as it was reported earlier in the offseason that GM Marc Bergevin told Pacioretty that they’re unwilling to negotiate a new contract and that he intends to trade the star winger as soon as possible.

It’s understandable to see why Pacioretty’s camp is so frustrated, but you can’t help but wonder if this further sours a relationship between management and player that already appeared irreparable.

Further complicating the situation is that the former first-round pick is coming off of an unproductive year, potting just 17 goals in 2017-18 after establishing himself as a bonafide 30-goal scorer in years prior.

It’s probably best from a value perspective for the Habs to wait to trade Pacioretty, but it’d also be problematic to have this drama and toxic atmosphere lingering around the team for an extended period of time.

Either way, it’s a tricky situation with no easy solution in sight.

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