The road will be difficult, but Rafaël Harvey-Pinard is looking to convince the Montreal Canadiens to make room for him in their open-season practice.
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The 23-year-old from Quebec is entering his third professional season. Despite trying his first National Hockey League (NHL) games last year, he’ll have to prove he’s better than some of the 13 forwards with a one-sided contract or Juraj, Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield beat coaches’ ratings to be to achieve goal.
“I arrive at camp to force the hand, reiterated from the start the number 49 in Saturday’s press conference. I know there are a lot of attackers out there, but I’ll focus on my game, have confidence in what I can do on the ice and do everything I can to assert myself.
Harvey-Pinard believes the last campaign, which was his first full American League campaign, will surely help him in his quest.
“I think that makes a big difference. I think it shows a bit on the rink. I try to bring a little more offense and hold the puck a little more. It sure helped last year.”
Instant chemistry
To show off, Harvey-Pinard just had the chance to play here with Slafkovsky and Owen Beck, both of whom were picked in the top 33 in the last NHL draft.
“It’s going really well,” he said happily. He brings a lot of things to the rink, so it’s “fun” to play with [Slafkovsky]. It’s easy. Being that weight, skating so fast, being skillful on your skates… That brings a lot of trouble. That makes it easy for the other guys on the rink.”
“When you arrive at the camp, you see them for the first time. To be honest, it clicked straight away. We have great chemistry and we find each other easily. I wasn’t expecting it, but I knew they were good hockey players, so it increases the likelihood that it will click as well.