Rafael Harvey-Pinard
Rafael Harvey-Pinard is proving himself as a sound defensive forward with a future on the Habs lower lines. He saw action in 45 games this year and should see even more ice time next season, where he will ultimately prove he’s worth keeping around and becoming a sound member of this young core.
But since he’s likely on the lower priority list this summer, let’s not look for an extension until next offseason or shortly beforehand. Once he’s guaranteed to stay in town a little longer, Harvey-Pinard will be one of the Habs more physical forwards and a potential glue player.
Kaiden Guhle
Kaiden Guhle hasn’t broken out as a scorer, but the blueliner showed immense improvement defensively, contributing 178 blocks and 116 hits while more than maintaining top-four minutes of ice time. He also proved to be valuable on the penalty kill, and he looks like he has a future on the Habs blue line.
If anyone else will receive a contract extension in the offseason or at some point in 2024-25, it’s Guhle, with the latter likely being the likelier scenario. Juraj Slafkovsky will be the first one to receive one, but as it stands, Guhle will be the second, or at worst third, priority among the players discussed in this piece.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)