Canadiens extend former seventh-round pick after breakout season

One of the Montreal Canadiens’ more intriguing breakout players last season has gotten a nice payday. Monday, the Habs announced a two-year contract extension for winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard, carrying an average annual value of $1.1M. Per CapFriendly, he’ll earn $1.2M in 2023-24 and $1.0M in 2024-25, paid entirely in base salary.

Harvey-Pinard earns his first one-way NHL contract after a very strong late-season performance in Montreal. His 14 goals and 20 points in 34 games were equivalent to a 0.59 points-per-game rate, sixth among all qualified Canadiens.

The 2019 seventh-round pick has posted strong numbers in the minors since turning pro in 2020, putting to rest most concerns about his undersized frame. Standing at 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds, the 24-year-old Quebecer has 107 points in 145 AHL games with the Laval Rocket over the past three seasons.

He’s surely in line to make the team out of camp, but if things do go wrong for the Canadiens and Harvey-Pinard in two years’ time, his $1.1M salary is fully able to be buried in the minors.

Harvey-Pinard spent most of his call-up elevated in the Canadiens lineup, playing on captain Nick Suzuki’s wing. His NHL stint happened after Cole Caufield was shut down for the season with a shoulder injury, though, so he’ll likely see a slight reduction on the 17:13 he averaged per game last year. Still, he’s part of a group of budding Canadiens forwards under the age of 25 that also includes Alex Newhook, Juraj Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach.

He’ll have arbitration rights as a restricted free agent at the end of his contract, potentially setting himself up for a big short-term payday if things go well. Due to the structure of his contract, he’ll only be due a $1M qualifying offer in 2025.

His signing does push Montreal over the salary cap’s $83.5M upper limit just slightly, but the Canadiens will have no issue remaining compliant throughout the season with netminder Carey Price’s $10.5M cap hit stashed on long-term injured reserve.