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Canadiens Forward Out Four Months Following Surgery

The Montreal Canadiens will be without a depth forward after undergoing surgery to repair a broken leg.
Nick Horwat|
Mar 9, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard (49) plays the puck during the second period of the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 9, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard (49) plays the puck during the second period of the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports | Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

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Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens will start the 2024-25 season without a young depth forward in their lineup. In a release from the Canadiens, 25-year-old forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard recently underwent successful surgery to repair a broken leg.

Harvey-Pinard’s recovery is expected to last at least four months, which will cut into the start of the 2024-25 season. The broken leg is believed to have occurred during an off-season hockey game. According to toutsurlehockey.com, the game featured multiple current and former Laval Rocket players.

The Rocket is the Canadiens' American Hockey League affiliate, where Harvey-Pinard spent a good chunk of his first three professional seasons.

A seventh-round draft pick (201st overall) of the Canadiens in 2019, Harvey Pinard has played in 83 career NHL games. In that time, he scored 17 goals and 14 assists, totaling 31 points. As a fourth-line winger with the Canadiens, he averaged 12:38 of ice time during the 2023-24 season.

Harvey-Pinard made his professional hockey debut with the Rocket during the 2020-21 season and has since played 145 games at the AHL level. Over his AHL career, he has posted 107 points.

Harvey-Pinard's first full year at the NHL level was the 2023-24 season. However, a lower-body injury kept him out for two months, and he only played in 45 games.

Reports indicate that this recent surgery is on the same leg that he injured in November of 2023.

Harvey-Pinard is expected to miss the entire Canadiens training camp and will likely return as early as late November 2024.

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Nick Horwat
NICK HORWAT

Nick Horwat is a contributor with Breakaway On SI. He was previously a credentialed reporter for The Hockey News covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A Pittsburgh native, Nick graduated from Point Park University and started reporting on news and sports with KDKA Radio and 93.7 The Fan. After hosting a Penguins talk radio show in college, he morphed the show into a podcast. The Tip of the Ice-Burgh Podcast has been a leading Penguins podcast since 2019. Follow him on Twitter @NickHorwat41.

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