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Rafael Harvey-Pinard: from potential 3rd line player to 13th striker

Rafael Harvey-Pinard: from potential 3rd line player to 13th striker

After his debut season in 2022-23, many eyes were opened for Rafael Harvey-Pinard.

With a surprising 14 goals in 34 games, with a success rate of 24.1% (double the NHL average), many quickly saw him as a potential good player for the 3rd line.

A “bonified bottom-6 player”, as they so nicely say in English hockey jargon.

And I was the first to see him in my soup, even though I suspected he would never be a second-line player (or a first-line player, like when he played with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki).

But looking ahead to the 2023-24 season, we wonder if what we saw at RHP is gone.

A meager 10 points in 45 games, plus a couple of lower-body injuries that seemed to affect his play when he did play, doesn’t bode well…

And it’s not like he only averaged 7-8 minutes per game like Michael Pezzetta, because he was on the ice for almost 13 minutes per game.

As Brian La Rose notes in his text, many saw him as a bottom 6 a player who can perform when placed on the first two lines in case of injuries.

That’s exactly what happened in his first season, when the Habs were plagued by injuries and RHP got (and took) his chance on the top line.

Obviously RHP will never be in the top two, but he can contribute by bringing energy and a certain attacking flair.

After last season, we’re now wondering if he wouldn’t simply be a twelfth or thirteenth forward in a healthy Montreal lineup.

And we’re not talking about promising young players like Owen Beck and Emil Heineman, or a potential top 6 addition like Kent Hughes would like.

In fact, RHP resembles a Pezzetta with more finesse and less aggression, but nothing more.

After a while

– New York Islanders Quebec prospect William Dufour got into a fight with wrestler Benjamin Tull. (LutteQuébec)

– I’ll take Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, Cale Makar, Miro Heiskanen and Sergei Bobrovsky. I have to say Igor Shesterkin also appeals to me.

– Georges St-Pierre always gives great tips for fighting in the octagon.

Good.