Max Pacioretty is giving the Leafs size, scoring and a new view of the number 67

Hamilton Spectator

11-05-2025

Max Pacioretty
wears No. 67, a number fans of the
Maple Leafs
have an uneasy relationship with.
After all, 1967 was
the year the team last won the Stanley Cup
and fans in other buildings will sometimes chant 'sixty-seven' to remind the players on the ice.
It's the number Pacioretty has worn since he joined the NHL in 2008 with Montreal. He wore it in Vegas, Carolina and Washington and when he got to Toronto in September, well, the number was available.
Asked in training camp why he went with 67, he was ready with an answer.
'I hope to bring the team luck with that number,' he said.
As the regular season went on, No. 67 didn't have much luck. Pacioretty missed more than half the season to a variety of ailments and a late-season salary cap squeeze that kept him out even though he was likely healthy enough to play.
Pacioretty was coming off double Achilles surgery when the Leafs took a chance on him, even though he hadn't played anything close to a full season since playing in 71 games in 2019-20 with the Golden Knights.
He took a chance on the Leafs, too, like Patrick Marleau, Jason Spezza and Joe Thornton before him. He assessed the talent in Toronto and decided this was the best place to try to win that elusive Stanley Cup. And with the Leafs up two games to one over the Florida Panthers in the second round, Pacioretty has made it closer to that goal than any of them.
The ex-Boston Bruin shot towards the slot and got a favourable deflection at 15:27 to give
'He's had a tough couple of years going back with the injuries,' Leafs coach Craig Berube said. 'His dedication when he was injured, working to get back, gave him the opportunity to come back and play good hockey.
'Max has had a pretty good career as a player in all facets … He's physical and has the ability to make plays and put the puck in the net at the same time. He's been a good National Hockey League player for a long time, and he's playing some good hockey for us right now.'
It's hard to imagine the Leafs being in this spot without him. He sat the first two games in the first round while Nick Robertson played his way out of a winning lineup by taking needless penalties.
Now Pacioretty has become a key part of the team by doing what he set his mind on when the season began: He remade his game.
Brad Marchand scored in overtime as the Florida Panthers topped the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 to cut their deficit in the teams' second-round playoff series to 2-1. (May 10, 2025 / The Canadian Press)
Once a goal-scorer, Pacioretty decided to use his size — six-foot-two, 217 pounds – to become a power forward. He would be the guy to take the hit to get the puck. He fit in on John Tavares's left wing, two veterans — Pacioretty is 36, Tavares 33 — playing old-school hockey while William Nylander would tantalize on the right wing.
'We spoke about the physicality and playing bigger teams,' Pacioretty said. 'That's where I can slot in and help the team and the line in that area. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. I'm trying to get the puck to two of the best players on the planet as much as I can and make life a little bit easier on them and harder on the opponent.
'And at this stage, I know what's effective and that's give them the puck.'
It's among the most productive lines of the post-season. Pacioretty and Nylander are both on four-game point streaks.
Nylander, with 15 points
, was tied for the lead in playoff scoring heading into Saturday's games. Nylander and Tavares each had five goals, tied for third in the post-season.
Pacioretty is on a point-a-game
run with two goals and five assists in seven games.
'I'm playing with two unbelievable players,' he said. 'John has done a good a good job of defending well, and taking us from defence to offence. William's skills are, well I keep raving about it. I haven't seen anything like it in my life. I'm just along for the ride.'
With no salary-cap limitations on NHL rosters in the playoffs, the tough guy is back with the
Robert Svehla (2002-03), Brandon Kozun (2014-15) and Radim Zahorna (2022-23) are the only other Leafs to have dared to wear No. 67. None have worn it as well as Pacioretty, the fifth player in Leafs playoff history with a four-game point streak at age 36 or older.
'We battled him through his entire career, played against him when he was in Montreal and … he's done an unbelievable job,' Nylander said. 'It's been a lot of fun playing with him.
'The way he's come back from injury and made his way into the lineup and becoming a key player for us, I mean, it's incredible.'
-Berube said goalie Anthony Stolarz is 'progressing' but hasn't resumed skating.
-Mitch Marner, with points in his last four games, has 62 career playoff points, passing Wendel Clark (61) for fifth on the franchise's all-time list.
-Morgan Rielly is a on three-game points streak and is second among Leafs defencemen in the playoffs with 47, two behind Börje Salming.