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Waddell believes Hurricanes will overcome Pacioretty's injury |
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The pain Carolina Hurricanes left wing Max Pacioretty experienced when he injured his Achilles wasn't confined to his foot.
His spirit took a beating when he realized a torn Achilles will keep him sidelined for six months.
"(His reaction) is pretty much what you would expect," Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said. "He knew he was getting traded somewhere and he was happy it was here. I knew him from the World Championships and so forth. We traded for him on a Wednesday and then he came in on the weekend and got a house and moved his family in. He was excited to be here."
Then Pacioretty felt the pain during a routine workout. "He said it was something he had done a thousand times before," Waddell said.
The injury put a momentary pause on the Hurricanes' offseason enthusiasm. The word "momentary" is appropriate because Waddell views Pacioretty's injury more as an inconvenience than a crisis.
Pacioretty should be back in February. "This will be like our trade deadline acquisition," Waddell said. "Hopefully we will be in a good space then, and we should be. But he could be the kind of addition we need there at the end. "
Even after Pacioretty's injury, there is considerable excitement in Raleigh about the Hurricanes. Waddell had a busy offseason, adding Pacioretty, defenseman Brent Burns, forward Ondrej Kase, forward Lane Pederson and defenseman Dylan Coghlan. The addition of Pacioretty and Burns in particular seemed like the maneuvering that quality teams take when they are ready to take the next step.
The Hurricanes did say goodbye to center Vince Trocheck, puck-moving defenseman Anthony DeAngelo and consistent scorer Nino Niederreiter.
Those are noteworthy departures, but most fans seem onboard with the changes.
"Everyone is super excited," Waddell said. "We have more than 2,000 new season tickets. With the way the team finished, and the year we had, and then to add those kind of guys... "
Carolina's 54-20-8 record was third-best in the NHL last season and the then Hurricanes lost a Game 7 to the New York Rangers in the second round. The Hurricanes also have younger players like Seth Jarvis, Martin Necas and Jesperi Kotkaniemi who could take a significant jump in their development. It's also easy to overlook that Andrei Svechnikov is still only 22.
Burns is going from a non-playoff team in San Jose to a contender in Raleigh. He's pumped.
"He's a specimen and he goes at it hard," Waddell said, noting that Burns has also bought a house and has been working out fiendishly. "He's 37 years old, but he's still a good kid. He's happy to be here to be sure. "
The Hurricanes acquired Pacioretty from the Vegas Golden Knights on July 14 to improve their scoring. Pacioretty is a six-time 30+ goal scorer. The 'Canes won't be able to replace him.
Waddell said he felt that before the injury, he had 10 forwards for his top nine forward spots.
"I don't get into top six," Waddell said. "I like to look at the top nine.
He still believes he has nine desirable forwards. He also will get some salary cap relief from putting Pacioretty on the long-term injured reserve. That will help if he decides to make another move.
Waddell said he talked to Pacioretty again last night. "I said, 'Max, you are disappointed, but we can't change the past," Waddell said. "But we just have to concentrate on getting you healthy and getting back to playing. Let's just move forward."
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