Ryan White

Max Pacioretty wowed the crowd at Canadiens' development camp on Friday.

The  big forward scored twice on nifty backhands during the 3-on-3 scrimmages.

On the first goal, Pacioretty drove the net and was slammed after scoring by Andrew Conboy, who was chosen 120 picks after Pacioretty in the 2007 draft. Conboy is a 6'4" bruiser who managed to rack up 188 minutes in penalties playing in the relatively tranquil – by Canadian major-junior standards – USHL.

Conboy will be a freshman at Michigan State this fall. If Pacioretty returns to Michigan – which he probably will – they'll be seeing more of each other.

As Pat Hickey writes in The Gazette today, Trevor Timmins describes Pacioretty as "head and shoulders" above the other prospects at camp.

Take this to the bank, people: Max Pacioretty will be with the big club when the 2009-'10 season begins. And he's going to  be a good one.

Ryan White
Three-year deal (Photo courtesy hitmenhockey.com)

Canadiens announced today they have signed centre Ryan White to a three-year contract.

A native of Brandon who played his junior hockey with the Calgary Hitmen of the Dub, White was the Canadiens' third-round draft choice (66th overall) in 2006.

Here's the team's press release:

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced today that forward Ryan White agreed to a three-year contract (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11).

As per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.