The Canadiens sealed the deal with an extremely important piece of the puzzle late Monday, signing Max Pacioretty to a 6-year, $27 million contract extension to stay in Montreal. With a year still left on his current contract, that mean the Canadiens own the rights to last year's leading point-getter for the next 7 years. 

Max joined Aaron for a chat about the deal on The Aaron Rand Show Tuesday, and they discussed a variety of topics.

When Aaron asked him why he signed this deal now, Pacioretty said he was happy with management's attitude toward him:

"They showed confidence in me by offering me a 6-year deal, and because of that I want to prove to them that I'm going to live up to expectations. I think for both sides it's a fair deal, and I'm happy to go out there and focus on winning hockey games now." 

But why stay in Montreal, and not test the open market where many experts say Pacioretty could have fetched a lot more money?

"The city has been great to me. They've had my back since day one, so I owe it to the city and I owe it to the fans to produce for them for at least another 7 years," Max said. 

But how close does he feel the Canadiens are to being a Stanley Cup contender?

"I don't think we're far at all. The additions we've had were great additions. They're character guys that help you win hockey games by going out there playing tough every night. When you have guys like that on your team, you win more hockey games."

Listen to the full interview with Pacioretty in the audio player to the right.