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Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty was on Toronto’s Sportsnet 590 on Thursday afternoon, and host Andrew Walker asked the forward about his emotions following the blockbuster P.K. Subban-Shea Weber trade, and if the stung him in the moment.

“It definitely did,” replied Pacioretty candidly. “I’ve been stuck in Florida, so I haven’t had to talk about it at all, but it did completely throw me off guard. The first thing I did is I picked up my phone and I called P.K. and he was in Europe and we talked about it. But you know what – P.K. is the most positive human being I’ve ever met in my life.

“He picks up, and he was almost like questioning why I was calling him. He’s like, ‘What’s up? How are you doing?’ And that’s just the way he lives his life. So I didn’t know what type of reaction there would be from him, but to see him in good spirits and to be happy about this opportunity to play in Nashville – I think it’ll be a really cool opportunity for him.”

Pacioretty shifted the focus to the player coming back to the Canadiens in the deal.

“I’m excited to play with Shea Weber,” he said. “He’s a guy that can help out our team a lot and has had a lot of success. I think from an individual perspective, he’s been a captain and a very successful one for quite some time now. So I think on an individual level, I can learn a lot from a player like that. I’m excited to get to know him.”

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Walker then asked Pacioretty if he got the reasoning or the method behind the madness behind the trade.

“Well, it’s not for me to make, you know? A lot of times when deals like that are made, there’s things with numbers and stuff that… that decision is not for me to make,” answered Pacioretty.

“But I loved playing with P.K.. I have a lot of great stories. As soon as everyone told me about it, all of my buddies from back home, they were talking about my wedding. Remembering where P.K. was like a third photographer there. I think he had a tripod with his camera set up and taking pictures. I never did see those pictures.

“But I have a lot of really, really good moments and memories with him, and I will miss him and I will keep in touch with him as well. In terms of hockey and on the ice, he’s a great player. He’s going to have a lot of success for many years.”

Pacioretty again mentioned the return for the Canadiens in the trade.

“I think we’re all very excited too to play with Shea Weber,” he said. “Not many people have been talking about him and respecting how good of a player he is when it came to this deal, because P.K. is such a popular person in Montreal and I guess all of the NHL. But Shea Weber scored 20 goals last year. He’s someone I think that can help our power play a lot and I’m just coming in and hopefully I’ll be able to learn from him on and off the ice. I mentioned the captain part of it, and his leadership qualities. I think that can go a long way with our team.”

Walker then wanted to know if Pacioretty was consulted or kept in the loop at all with regard to changes that Bergevin wanted to make.

“You mean with the potential of the roster, or in terms of leadership?” Pacioretty asked in return.

Both, really, said Walker.

“No, I’m not at all,” said Pacioretty. “That’s not really how it works, at least not in Montreal. I think we have a great understanding of the way we want to play and the direction we want to go. Obviously last year it just wasn’t good enough. We lost the best player in the world. I wish we found a way to recover. We weren’t able to.

“The management does what they have to do to make our team better, and the players have to focus on the results on the ice. And that’s all we can focus on. If we worry about too much, or we’re given too much information and have to focus elsewhere, I think we’d let our game slip. And I’m not sure what made our game slip so much last year, but we know how to handle adversity like that now. If we’re ever faced with some adversity, I think it’s going to be good for us to have gone through this experience that we went through this year.”

Source: Sportsnet 590/ Transcript: Nichols

Pacioretty: Subban trade ‘did completely throw me off guard’