Max Pacioretty looking forward to reunion with former teammate Ryan Reaves

The Toronto Maple Leafs begin their preseason schedule on Sunday against the Ottawa Senators with one of their PTO signings in the lineup - Max Pacioretty, former captain of the Montreal Canadiens.

Pacioretty was shipped from Montreal to Vegas in 2018, with the Canadiens receiving Nick Suzuki, Tomas Tatar and a second round pick in return. Coming off a loss in the Stanley Cup Final, Vegas wanted to add another scoring threat to the lineup and did so with Pacioretty, who scored 97 goals in four seasons with the Golden Knights.

While with the Golden Knights, Pacioretty formed a bond with Ryan Reaves and now in Toronto, the two will team up once again, at least for training camp given that the former first rounder is only on a professional tryout.

Pacioretty was asked about Ryan Reaves during a recent media availability and spoke very highly of him, saying that he's the best teammate he's every played with and that he's quite happy for their reunion with the Maple Leafs.

Pacioretty's days of scoring 30 goals are behind him now, but the Maple Leafs are hoping that he could still be an effective bottom-six option for them and potentially someone they can use on the second powerplay unit. If the Maple Leafs end up signing Pacioretty to a one year deal for the 2024-25 season and he manages to score 15-20 goals, that would be big for the team.

That's really high praise for Reaves, especially considering the year he had last year under a different head coach. We'll see if Reaves is used differently under Craig Berube.