The Montreal Canadiens have secured the services of forward Max Pacioretty until 2019 with a six-year contract extension  worth $27-million US.

The 23-year-old came back from a fractured neck and concussion in 2011 to lead the team last season with 65 points in 79 games.  And Habs GM Marc Bergevin says the best is yet to come.

“I think he’s just scratching the surface now. I think he’s still a 23-year-old player. He works out, he’s committed and we like what we saw last year. Obviously I wasn’t here, but I talked with our guys and they felt comfortable and I for sure felt comfortable to bring him back for six years”.

Pacioretty will earn $1.65-million in the final year of his current contract, with the new deal kicking in for the 2013-14 season. Pacioretty says while he could have signed a more lucrative deal elsewhere, he feels a special bond to Montreal.

“The city has been great to me through my whole situation over the past couple years. They’ve defended me and they’ve had my back since day one. I owe it to the city and I owe it to the fans to produce for them and hopefully I can do that for at least seven more years now.

Restricted free agent PK Subban is basically the last key player to be signed. Reports surfaced last month that Subban was initially offered a two-year, $5.5 million deal, but Bergevin stayed mum on the issue today.

 “I don’t want to talk about it out of respect for PK’s agent. It’s an ongoing process that’s going on and we’re talking and hopefully we’ll reach an agreement in time”.

And as for the Shane Doan sweepstakes, Bergevin admitted that they’ve spoken with the unrestricted free agent , but that the odds of seeing the former Coyotes captain in a Habs jersey this season are a long shot.

“We showed interest like a lot of teams did, but Shane wants to take his time and he has the right to do so. But we showed some interest so we’ll see what happens.”