Red Berenson isn't very happy with Pacioretty's decision to turn pro

From Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette:

Pacioretty, who acknowledged Berenson wasn't pleased with his decision, praised the coach.

"I talked to him before and he talked to me about the pros and cons about either decision," the 19-year-old said.

"A couple of days later, I ended up signing, making the decision to leave. I really took into consideration what he had to tell me. He's a great coach. He's probably the best coach I ever played for."

Read the entire story here.

As Berenson knows, leaving school early is becoming far more commonplace in NCAA sports than it ever has. With Pacioretty excelling at the team's summer development camp, it is really no surprise that he has decided to turn pro. By all accounts, he is going to be a very good NHL player.

Habs sign Pacioretty to three-year deal

From the Montreal Gazette:

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced today the signing of forward Max Pacioretty to a three-year contract (2008-09 to 2010-11). As per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Max Pacioretty is a young player with a lot of skills who has the potential to play in the NHL. We are very happy to have him under contract for years to come. We feel he is ready to make the jump to professional hockey, and we will make sure to provide him with all the resources which will benefit his long-term development as a player,’’ said Bob Gainey.

Read more from Habs Inside/Out here.

Pacioretty sure impressed the Habs brass at the team's recent summer camp. If he really impresses at training camp, it wouldn't be a shock if he started the season off with the big club.

Max Pacioretty impresses Habs brass

From Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette:

While Trevor Timmins, the Canadiens' director of recruitment, was reluctant to talk about individual players, he did venture the opinion that Pacioretty is "head and shoulders" above his peers.

"This isn't an evaluation camp," Timmins explained. "What we're trying to do is develop the players' skills. We've spent a lot of time working on fundamentals. In some cases, players are being exposed to things they've never seen before or things that they don't have a lot of time to do with their teams."

Read the entire article here.

It looks like the Habs scouting staff has continued with their fine drafting.