5:04 PM: The Hurricanes have now officially announced the news.
4:55 PM: It turns out Pacioretty’s MRI was done today, not on Monday as originally reported. In what is absolutely awful news for both Pacioretty and hockey fans everywhere, the MRI revealed, as reported by Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer, that Pacioretty tore his right Achilles tendon, just two weeks after returning to action. It’s the same injury he suffered in August, and although no firm timeline has been released by the team, it will in all likelihood knock him out for the rest of the season.
This news likely confirms that Pacioretty will eventually end up placed on long-term injured reserve. While Pacioretty’s health and recovery will undoubtedly be the Hurricanes’ first priority here, this development does impact their roster-building plans for the rest of the season. The additional cap space afforded by a Pacioretty LTIR placement could have a significant impact on the rest of the team’s season and the trade market as a whole.
For Pacioretty, the priority will be getting his health back in a good place. The 34-year-old forward has played some of the best hockey of his career in recent years, but he has been limited to only sporadic availability due to injuries. With this bit of news, it’s clear he now faces another long recovery on his road back to the ice.
12:47 PM: After just five games, Max Pacioretty is back on injured reserve. The Carolina Hurricanes moved the veteran winger after he suffered a non-contact injury last night to the same leg that underwent surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon last summer.
The Hurricanes have not given a timeline for Pacioretty’s recovery, and according to Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer, won’t be making a determination until next week. They’ve moved his scheduled MRI to Monday.
It is brutal news for a player that worked so hard to come back, especially given how well he had fit into the Carolina lineup. Pacioretty had three goals in his first three games with the team, though was also held out for two games recently due to a lower-body injury.
If it is another torn Achilles, Pacioretty would be out for the rest of the season. Injuries have become something of a pattern for the 34-year-old in the back half of his career. A player once known for his durability and consistency, Pacioretty has now played just 44 games since the start of 2021-22.
Even worse, his contract will expire at the end of this season, making him an unrestricted free agent. If the injury is as serious as it seems, another months-long rehab will be a difficult pill to swallow, with no guarantee of a financial or competitive future.
For the Hurricanes, it could mean they suddenly have some extra cap flexibility to play with. Should Pacioretty head back to long-term injured reserve, the team could make any number of moves at the deadline. His entire $7MM salary could essentially be replaced if he is not going to return this season.
I want to make it very clear that I have no basis for what I’m about to say. But man, wouldn’t it be fun if the team that a couple years ago complained that they “lost to a team that was $18 Million over the cap” learned their lesson and picked up Horvat and another couple pieces and then had Pacioretty pull a Patrick Kane and come back ahead of schedule and just in time for the playoffs?
Sounds nice and all but I’d say that was patches Achilles EXPLODING
That has already happened in the past. The lightning were the first to complain about it after the Blackhawks did it. Everyone ignored them so then they did it too
If Braves pitcher Mike Soroka can rehab a 2nd achilles tear and come back, maybe there’s hope for Pacioretty. But man, that’s a gut punch.
I mean, of courae you can in theory recover from several. Doesn’t make it a good sign, but you can do it.
Soroka (Canadian) is also a decade or so younger and in a sport/position where it’s not a huge impact like a hockey player
Your Achilles is probably important in quite literally every sport in the world. There is no lesser or more impact of such a major tendon in the rest of your body when it comes to impacting different sports.
He’s a pitcher that literally uses his foot/leg to push off the mound every single pitch. I mean, I can’t think of a sport where an Achilles injury wouldn’t completely wreck your season.
Canes say “Hello” to Timo Meier!!!
Hope he can return one day. This injury takes a long time to heal and going through it 2 times is tough..
Canes will bring him back on a very team friendly contract in the off-season.
He might need all of next season for this one to heal. Twice in a year is a significant amount of damage.
So he tore his Achilles in August and he’s back on the ice 5 months later? That’s a little early is it not? Should be out a year to let the thing fully heal?
I know it’s a different sport but Klay Thompson is still not available for back-to-backs in basketball for the Golden State Warriors. I’m sure any player especially Klay, would have loved to come back early but they held him until 100% healed.
Sorry to read about this because all the guy wants to do is play and contribute.
Man that was a serious gut punch for my Canes and Max… I mean he was a HUGE addition to the team… 5 games and 3 goals… Unreal… All I will say is I hope we hang on to him and get him back ASAP but maybe this time we wait until we are 1000 percent sure it’s healed… The only bright side to any of this, is that at least if it was gonna happen, it happened before the trade deadline so we have a chance to make some moves before the third half of the season to steal a phrase from the great Yogi Berra. But there’s no replacement for Patch! What a shitty bit of luck…