Montreal Canadiens: Three Players Underperforming So Far This Season

Rafael Harvey-Pinard

At one time, not much at all would have been expected from Rafael Harvey-Pinard. He was a player that went undrafted twice before the Canadiens selected him with a seventh round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.

He was a skilled player that piled up points in the QMJHL, but he was a bit undersized and NHL teams clearly didn’t think he could translate his style of play to the big league level while standing at 5’9″.

Harvey-Pinard did his best to prove he could handle the pro level by playing great for the Laval Rocket as soon as he turned pro. He had nine goals and 20 points in 36 AHL games as a rookie and then put up 21 goals and 56 points in 69 games the following season. He also showed up with a feistyness and battle level that far exceeded his height.

He became such a tough, in your face style of player that he was given the nickname Lavallagher as his play resembled that of Brendan Gallagher so much.

He was given a lengthy look at the NHL level for the first time last season and was terrific. He scored 14 goals and 20 points in 34 games and was playing that same tenacious forechecking and battling style that earned him praise from his teammates on a regular basis.

No one expected him to keep scoring at a 34 goal pace like he did last season, but he was given a prime position on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

That should have put him in a position to put up points, but he ended up with zero goals and four assists in ten games before being injured. It doesn’t sound like a long term injury, so he should be back and helping the team soon. We would expect him to start putting a few pucks in the net after he returns, but, surprisingly, he was not able to do that in the first ten games of the year.