Pacioretty out of action for 6 months

Recently acquired Carolina Hurricanes forward will be out of the team's lineup for at least 6 months after he recovers from surgery to repair a torn achilles tendon. It's believed that Pacioretty sustained the injury during offseason training.

From the Hurricanes:

Quote...RALEIGH, NC - Don Waddell, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that forward Max Pacioretty will undergo surgery to repair a torn Achilles. The procedure will be performed by Dr. Kevin Logel at Raleigh Orthopaedic on Wednesday. Pacioretty's expected recovery time is six months.

That's a huge, huge, HUGE blow to the Hurricanes before the puck even drops on the 2023-24 campaign. Pacioretty, of course, was acquired by the Hurricanes from the Vegas Golden Knights this offseason quite literally for nothing. The Golden Knights, as they did with Marc Andre Fleury, just dumped Pacioretty off their roster in order to clear up cap space. The 33 year old forward put up an impressive 33 points in 39 games with Vegas last season and has been nearly a point per game player for the past four seasons. And yet, the Golden Knights weren't able to get ANYTHING for him in return. I'm not sure whether that says more about Pacioretty himself or, just Vegas' ineptitude on the trade market. I'm thinking the latter, however.

With the news of Pacioretty's injury now though, you have to wonder if the Hurricanes will make a move either by trade or by free agent signing to replace some of his offensive production. After all, Pacioretty isn't scheduled to make his debut for the team until February or March, right in the thick of the playoff race. Sure, the 'Canes have Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov up front, but they've lost depth contributors like Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederrieter to free agency. Pacioretty was meant to help fill some of that void this upcoming season. There's no doubt that recently acquired veteran Brent Burns will help push offense from the back end, but if the 'Canes can't make an addition up front look for increased roles from youngsters like Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Martin Necas and Seth Jarvis.