Pacioretty re-injures Achilles, more than likely to miss remainder of season

In a brutal turn of events, it was confirmed that Max Pacioretty tore his right Achilles tendon — the same one that he had torn four months prior during offseason training — after the team announced he was put on IR Friday night.

While the writing was on the wall following the grim mood in Carolina’s locker room Thursday night, an MRI Friday confirmed that the beleaguered winger had torn the same Achilles that he had had surgically repaired in the offseason.

With just 19 seconds remaining in the game against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, Pacioretty made a sudden stop, took one step and then immediately reached down towards his lower leg.

Pacioretty had been well ahead of schedule in his recovery, and after having been cleared by all valid parties, he returned to game action in just about four months. Nobody could have predicted this is how it would all end though.

The re-injure rates for Achilles ruptures is extremely low, but it seems that the odds just weren’t in Pacioretty’s favors and it’s just a huge blow not only to the team, but also to Pacioretty the person.

To work that hard in your recovery and then to actually make it back and play some games just for it all to be ripped away again has to leave such a hollow feeling.

Pacioretty appeared in five games for the Carolina Hurricanes, scoring three goals, and the inevitable questions of what could have been surround him, as he felt like the perfect fit for what the Canes needed.

Now Pacioretty will begin an even lengthier recovery process, with a second surgery still to come, and hopefully he will be able to come back stronger than ever.

But it won’t be this season.

Although the team hasn’t yet announced that he will miss the remainder of the season, the odds of him playing again this year are virtually non-existent.

So for the Hurricanes, the search now begins to find a player before the trade deadline that can help alleviate the blow.

PACIORETTY SUFFERS TORN ACHILLES

Forward placed on injured reserve

RALEIGH, N.C. – Don Waddell, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that forward Max Pacioretty suffered a torn Achilles in the third period of the Hurricanes’ 5-2 win against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. Pacioretty has been placed on injured reserve.

Pacioretty, 34, scored three goals in five games with Carolina this season, making his Hurricanes debut on Jan. 5 against Nashville. The 6’2”, 214-pound forward was acquired by the Hurricanes along with defenseman Dylan Coghlan from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for future considerations on July 13, 2022. Pacioretty has recorded 645 points (326g, 319a) in 855 career NHL games with Montreal, Vegas and Carolina. The New Canaan, Conn., native has represented the United States at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship, 2014 Olympics and 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Pacioretty was selected by Montreal in the first round, 22nd overall, of the 2007 NHL Draft.