Penguins Sleeper Pick: Rafael Harvey Pinard, Montreal Homecoming
CRANBERRY — Rafael Harvey-Pinard spent five seasons with the Montreal Canadiens organization, playing 84 NHL games before being largely relegated to the AHL last season as the increasingly stacked Montreal lineup had less and less room.
Now, Harvey-Pinard, 26, has emerged in a crowded field as a true dark horse to make the 2025-26 Pittsburgh Penguins roster.
It might have seemed like Harvey-Pinard was not good enough, but instead, it was injuries that slowed the scrappy small forward. The first few days in Penguins training camp looked like a reawakening for Harvey-Pinard, and his speed has stood out in a camp built on that premise.
“Last year, I had a couple of injuries, and I kind of lost my explosion a little bit. I was a little bit slower on the ice the last two years,” the winger admitted to PHN. “I really worked over the summer on power skating, and a lot of lower body stuff in the gym to gain back my power and my explosion. And right now I feel pretty good on the ice. So I think I did a good job during the summer.
Coach Dan Muse is also offering a little reward for the player’s stellar work in camp by placing him front and center in the Penguins lineup Monday when the Penguins visit …. guess who … his hometown and former mates, the Montreal Canadiens.
Preseason or not, playing at the Bell Centre is always a special moment for Quebec natives, especially when a player has spent five years in the organization.
“It’s going to be special for sure to be on the other side of the ice. And I’m pretty excited to play against those guys,” Harvey-Pinard said. “I know every player on the team, so it’s gonna be a special night for me for sure.”
Monday, Muse is pairing Harvey-Pinard with NHL regular Tommy Novak on what will presumably be the Penguins’ top line. They will face the best of the Canadiens, who will ice a loaded lineup.
According to colleague Marc Dumont of Montreal Hockey Now, the top Canadiens’ line is: Patrik Laine-Oliver Kapanen-Ivan Demidov.
Good luck getting the puck from that line. Should the Penguins’ top line draw a lesser line, it won’t get easier. Montreal’s second line Monday will be: Josh Anderson-Jake Evans-Brendan Gallagher.
“I think it’s gonna go well for me … (I want) to pressure the puck, to have a good forecheck,” said Harvey-Pinard. “You need explosion, and I think that’s why I need to bring tonight good fore-check, put pressure on Derdy, and make great turnovers.
Neither would be an easy assignment, especially as the first game of the season in front of an excited Montreal crowd, but the assignment speaks to Muse wanting a good look at the 5-foot-9, 181-pound left winger.
“He’s a guy who’s always working. He’s another guy who puts himself in good areas, and he’s detailed,” said Muse. “He hasn’t really taken any shifts off in practice, and so we expect the same here in the game. That’s what we’ve seen coming in. So he really works, and he’s shown that consistently. I’m sure he’s excited to get back up there, and I’m excited to see him up there.”
Harvey-Pinard’s breakout came with the struggling 2022-23 Canadiens when he had 20 points (14-6-20) in just 34 games. However, he had only 10 points (2-8-10) in 45 games the following season and got just one NHL game last season.
With a plethora of bigger-name players and prospects in camp fighting for roster spots, Harvey-Pinard would figure to be a second-tier candidate. Still, he does qualify under general manager Kyle Dubas’s desire to feature players who chose the Penguins for a second chance and to overcome injury.
Harvey-Pinard would certainly qualify, and he’ll get prime real estate beside a center who figures to be an NHL regular. Players in RFP’s situation don’t get an abundance of chances, and Monday could be his best opportunity.
“We do want to see that connection (between players). But right now, at this point in the camp, it’s really about the competitiveness of our game … the connection in their offense, we’ll be working support,” Muse said. “There are some foundational elements that need to be in the game for our systems to work … I think what you’ve seen in these early practices, just the compete that we have.”
Categorized: Pittsburgh Penguins