Maple Leafs Head Coach Craig Berube Explains Why Max Pacioretty Was a Healthy Scratch

Oh, how quickly things can change. On Tuesday, Pacioretty was taking reps on the Maple Leafs' top power play unit at practice, and on Wednesday, Pacioretty found himself in the press box as a healthy scratch just before game time.

Pacioretty has produced just 1 single point across his first 3 games -- a goal against the New Jersey Devils in the Leafs' first win of the season. According to Berube, though, the scratch had nothing to do with his performance.

Following Wednesday's 6-2 thumping of the Kings, Berube revealed why Pacioretty was the one who came out of the lineup. The biggest takeaway was that the move was not to send any sort of a message to the veteran winger.

Pacioretty signed a PTO with the Leafs in September, but according to his agent, Allan Walsh, the deal was done a whole lot sooner, as the team and player actually had a handshake deal on a standard player contract back in August. The deal became official as training camp came to a close, with Pacioretty inking a 1-year pact with the Leafs worth as much as $1.5M if he can reach both of his performance bonus targets, which would pay him a little over $313,000 at each of the 10-game and 35-game marks.

If we're taking Berube at his word, we should see Pacioretty back in the lineup for Saturday's home game against the New York Rangers.