{"id":437579,"date":"2024-02-16T12:00:40","date_gmt":"2024-02-16T17:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=437579"},"modified":"2024-02-16T11:31:13","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T16:31:13","slug":"harvey-pinards-future-with-the-canadiens-after-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/02\/16\/harvey-pinards-future-with-the-canadiens-after-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvey-Pinard’s Future With The Canadiens After Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a breakout campaign that saw him net 14 goals in only 34 games, many Canadiens fans were excited at what Rafael Harvey-Pinard<\/a>‘s sophomore season may bring. However, it was announced that the 25-year-old Quebec native would miss up to six weeks with another injury. This is Harvey-Pinard’s second major injury this campaign, which raises durability concerns. His lack of production when healthy however also raises concern. Harvey-Pinard has only one goal and six assists in 24 games. Was Harvey-Pinard’s breakout rookie year a fluke, or will Harvey-Pinard be able to bounce back?<\/p>\n

Harvey-Pinard’s Future With The Canadiens<\/h2>\n

Analysis of Harvey-Pinard’s 2022-23<\/h3>\n

When he was recalled by the Canadiens last season, he joined an injury-riddled team. The Canadiens had an unprecedented amount of injuries to their roster, and as a result, sat near the bottom of the standings. The depleted roster gave Harvey-Pinard an opportunity that he otherwise likely wouldn’t have gotten. He immediately got a chance to play alongside Nick Suzuki<\/a> and Josh Anderson<\/a>, with whom he found instant chemistry. With guys like Cole Caufield<\/a> and Kirby Dach<\/a> out, RHP saw lots of powerplay time as well last season.<\/p>\n

This boost in minutes gave RHP more opportunity than he had ever received at the NHL level. As a result, his production skyrocketed. A player who had produced 16 goals at the AHL level in 40 games all of a sudden had 14 goals in only 34 games in the NHL. This pace would be difficult for RHP to repeat and maintain over a full campaign, especially without those top minutes.<\/p>\n

Analysis of Harvey Pinard’s 2023-24<\/h3>\n

Harvey-Pinard’s much anticipated sophomore season<\/a> has been riddled with injury. He suffered a lower-body injury in November that sidelined him for approximately six weeks. Now, the forward is set to miss another 4-6 weeks after suffering yet another lower-body injury. When he has been healthy, however, the forward has largely been a non-factor offensively. He has been playing bottom-six minutes for the majority of the year with subpar linemates, and as a result he he has only one goal to his name this season.<\/p>\n

While it was unlikely for RHP to continue the torrid pace from last year, this production still comes as a disappointment. However, being lined up with players like Pezzetta, Evans, etc, who provide little to no offensive upside makes his situation difficult.<\/p>\n

Is Harvey-Pinard a Long-Term Fit?<\/h3>\n

Harvey-Pinard has one more year<\/a> beyond this season at a reasonable 1.1 million cap hit. After his current deal expires, RHP will still be an RFA, and therefore, under team control long-term. However, is he a fit for the team long-term? The Canadiens have a lot of young talent up front, with lots of prospects waiting in the wings. If Harvey-Pinard can’t provide more offence than he’s shown this year, he may eventually be nudged out of the lineup in favour of a younger more offensive option up front.<\/p>\n

Harvey-Pinard has often been compared to Brendan Gallagher<\/a> in terms of his playing style. If he hopes to be a long-term fit for the Habs, he needs to be that spark-plug type of player on a night-in basis. While it’s doubtful that he can return to the 30-goal pace of his rookie year, he can still secure his spot in the lineup in other ways.<\/p>\n

Harvey-Pinard has quickly become a fan favourite during his short Canadiens tenure. His low offensive totals can be attributed to a mixture of injuries and opportunity. However, one has to wonder which version of Harvey-Pinard is closer to the final product. Furthermore, can he have a bounce-back 2024-25 campaign and solidify his role long-term during a contract year?<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a breakout campaign that saw him net 14 goals in only 34 games, many Canadiens fans were excited at what Rafael Harvey-Pinard‘s sophomore season may bring. However, it was announced that the 25-year-old Quebec native would miss up to six weeks with another injury. This is Harvey-Pinard’s second major injury this campaign, which raises […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4275,"featured_media":437612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4547,4548],"tags":[1576,152,949,6761],"class_list":["post-437579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-canadiens","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-injury","tag-montreal-canadiens","tag-nick-suzuki","tag-rafael-harvey-pinard"],"modified_by":"Kyle Pereira","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}