Win-win: Pacioretty deal reaps rewards for Canadiens and Golden Knights – Montreal Gazette

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Sometimes trades work out well for both teams.

That has been the case with the trade between the Canadiens and Golden Knights three years ago that sent Max Pacioretty to Las Vegas in exchange for Nick Suzuki, Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick at the 2019 NHL Draft that was later dealt to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a third-round pick (Mattias Norlinder) and a fifth-round pick (Jacob Leguerrier).

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The Canadiens were trading for the future while the Golden Knights were trading for the present and it’s kind of cool that the two teams will meet in a Stanley Cup semifinal series that will start Monday in Las Vegas (9 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

The Golden Knights have made the playoffs all three seasons since acquiring Pacioretty and are in the semifinals for the second straight year. Pacioretty had 24-27-51 totals in 48 regular-season games this year, while Suzuki had 15-26-41 totals in 56 games and Tatar had 10-20-30 in 50 games. Tatar has been a healthy scratch for the last six playoff games and was also a healthy scratch for 12 of 20 playoff games with the Golden Knights when they advanced to the Cup final in 2018 as an expansion team.

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But Suzuki was the key player in the trade for the Canadiens with GM Marc Bergevin hoping to find a No. 1 centre, a role the 21-year-old is starting to grow into.

“I think it worked out for both teams,” Suzuki said Friday when asked about the trade. “I think when Marc called me and said I was a big piece that they wanted, I just wanted to show that Montreal made the right decision in bringing me over and I want to do everything I can for this franchise. It was more about proving Marc right to want me in the deal.”

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“I think it’s a little bit different for him,” Suzuki said about Pacioretty, who played 10 seasons with the Canadiens and was captain his the last three. “I wasn’t really a part of that (Vegas) team … I was just one of the prospects that they drafted. He played here for a long time, was the captain, he was a big part of the organization. I know the fans all liked him when he was playing here. It’s a different situation.”

Pacioretty has 4-4-8 totals in seven playoff games after missing the first six games of a first-round series against the Minnesota Wild with an undisclosed injury that sidelined him for almost a month. He scored or assisted on all four game-winning goals in Vegas’s second-round victory over the Colorado Avalanche. Suzuki has 4-4-8 totals in 11 playoff games.

Last season, Pacioretty had 32-34-66 totals in 77 games, hitting the 30-goal mark for the sixth time in his career and he was on pace to score more than 30 again this year if it had been a regular 82-game schedule.

Suzuki said he doesn’t keep track of how Pacioretty is doing with Vegas.

“I’ve just seen their playoff runs when I wasn’t playing still,” he said. “But I’ve never talked to him or met him before.”

scowan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StuCowan1

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