Photo credit: Dan Hamilton – USA Today Sports

After all the speculation, it looks like the Toronto Maple Leafs will finally be announcing the signing of veteran forward Max Pacioretty within the next 24 hours.

For the majority of the last month and a half, there was a lot of speculation about the Maple Leafs bringing Pacioretty into the fold after they failed to address their forward depth during the initial stages of the free agent frenzy.

After signing the veteran left winger to a professional tryout contract, Pacioretty impressed very early on with 2 goals and 1 assist in his first pre-season contest against the Ottawa Senators. He then followed it up with 2 more assists in his most recent game against the Detroit Red Wings.

With the Maple Leafs set to kick off their regular season on Wednesday, they are seemingly very close to getting a one-year deal done for the veteran that will solidify his position for the 2024-25 season. Nick Alberga confirms that a source told him it should be done on Sunday.

The former captain of the Montreal Canadiens has struggled with injuries over the last few seasons as he’s appeared in only 139 games split between the Vegas Golden Knights, Carolina Hurricanes, and Washington Capitals dating back to 2020-21. He still managed to put up 50 goals and 114 points in those aforementioned 139 contests, including 24 goals and 51 points in just 48 games in 2020-21.

With the Maple Leafs, Pacioretty gets a fresh opportunity to turn over a new leaf and reestablish himself as a premier secondary option at this stage of his career. He will more than likely receive top-9 minutes and play on the second power play unit but he has a really good shot at scoring 20-25 goals and 50+ points if he can remain healthy.