Can Max Pacioretty Captain Montreal Canadiens to Stanley Cup?
Oddsmakers have the Montreal Canadiens as the country’s best shot at winning the Stanley Cup. Is Max Pacioretty the best choice to lead the team?
Max Pacioretty has been named the new captain of the Montreal Canadiens, which means now he’s the man in charge to lead the Habs to their first Stanley Cup title since 1993.
Stanley Cup Odds
The Canadiens are currently pegged with 10:1 odds to win the Stanley Cup, which puts them in a group of five teams at the same price behind the Cup favourites, Anaheim Ducks at +700, and the Chicago Blackhawks at +800.
Pacioretty, a 26-year-old winger, was voted the Canadiens’ 29th captain Friday while Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec, P.K. Subban and Brendan Gallagher will serve as alternate captains. Pacioretty has led the team in scoring in each of the last four seasons and has topped 30 goals three times in seven seasons with the team. Last season the Canadiens played the full season without a captain.
Pacioretty is currently rehabbing an off-ice knee injury that he suffered while training in July that was expected to keep him out of commission for 8-12 weeks.
“I think the progression looks good,” Pacioretty recently told reporters. “I’m trying to ramp up every day and more intense every day. Even if I’m not out there with the team at first, I think I’m able to do a lot on my own with the trainers to maybe even be more beneficial for what I’m going for right now. I haven’t skated in so long, some of that fine-tuning you kind of have to do on your own out there, and it’s not exactly stuff you pick up in drills.”
NHL Betting Odds
The Montreal Canadiens open preseason play Sept. 23 against the Boston Bruins at the Bell Centre. The Habs open the regular season on Thursday, October 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Oddsmakers currently have that season opener as a pick ’em.