The Montreal Canadiens signed another forward yesterday when they were able to come to terms with Rafael Harvey-Pinard. The 24 year old left winger is on board for two more years at a very reasonable cap hit of $1.1 million.
After scoring 14 goals and 20 points in just 34 games last season, you would think Harvey-Pinard would have a roster spot locked up, but that isn’t necessarily the case. The Canadiens simply have too many forwards locked up heading into next season and someone is going to have to sit out, or possibly even sent down, since only 12 forwards can play on a given night.
With Harvey-Pinard signed, the Canadiens now have 14 forwards under contract for next season. When Alex Newhook signs his first contract with the Canadiens, that will bring the number to 15, and Jesse Ylonen requires waivers for the first time in 2023-24 so when he is inked, the Canadiens will have 16 forwards on the NHL roster.
The numbers game could result in Harvey-Pinard being sent down at the start of next season because he does not require waivers to get to the minor leagues. But, with the way he played for the Canadiens last season, that would not be an ideal situation.
Instead, it would be best if the Canadiens traded a couple of veteran forwards who do not have much of a future in Montreal anyway. This way, Ylonen, Harvey-Pinard and other younger forwards could play on a regular basis and possibly develop into regular contributors on a rebuilt team in a couple years.
It sounds like the Canadiens general manager is thinking along these lines as well. He mentioned in his press conference earlier this week that the team is looking to move an excess forward and other teams are aware of their intentions.
As far as relieving some of the excess at forward, Hughes said the Canadiens have been talking to teams for a while: "They're aware, with the number of forwards that we have under contract that we're open to moving certain players. So we'll see where it takes us."
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) July 1, 2023
That is good news, since it would not be best for Harvey-Pinard’s development for him to head back to the minors. It would also be horrible asset management to lose a player like Ylonen on waivers. Even putting a fourth line winger like Michael Pezzetta on waivers wouldn’t be the best message to send as he worked harder than anyone to earn that spot over the past two seasons.
What does this mean instead? Hughes is likely waiting to see if anyone will take on the final year of Mike Hoffman or Rem Pitlick’s contracts or the final two years of Joel Armia’s deal. Christian Dvorak is another potential trade chip with so many other center options on the team.
This is good news for the rebuild. Teams need a few veteran players around to guide the youngsters, but the Canadiens just have too many older forwards as well as a lot of younger forwards who have earned bigger roles. The priority has to go to getting the younger players more ice time, and thankfully the Canadiens are working toward making that happen.
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