Penguins add to depth with series of organizational signings

Rafael Harvey-Pinard joins the Penguins, along with a couple other deep depth signings the team announced today

The Penguins kept rounding out their organization on the second day of free agency by announcing a series of short-term signings. In addition to formally announcing the big time signing of Anthony Mantha, Pittsburgh has signed forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard and defender Phil Kemp to contracts.

From the team:

Harvey-Pinard, 26, spent the 2024-25 season with the Montreal Canadiens organization. The 5-foot-9, 181-pound forward appeared in one game with the Canadiens and 40 games for their American Hockey League affiliate, the Laval Rocket, where he notched 19 points (5G-14A) and was plus-2.

The Saguenay, Quebec native has spent the previous five seasons (2020-25) in the Montreal Canadiens organization. In 84 career NHL games, Harvey-Pinard has recorded 17 goals, 14 assists and 31 points. His best season came in 2022-23 when he set NHL career highs in goals (14) and points (20) in just 34 games. At the AHL level, all with Laval, he’s accumulated 126 points (51G-75A) in 185 regular-season games.

Prior to being drafted by Montreal in the seventh round (201st overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft, Harvey-Pinard played parts of five seasons of junior hockey (2015-20) with Rouyn-Noranda and Chicoutimi of the QMJHL, winning the QMJHL Championship and Memorial Cup in 2019.

Kemp spent the 2024-25 season with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL, playing in 56 games and tallying seven goals, five assists and 12 points. His career-high seven goals ranked third among team defensemen, while his 12 points were the fourth most.

The 6-foot-3, 212-pound defenseman has played in parts of five seasons in the AHL with the Condors since 2020-21. In 258 career AHL games, Kemp has recorded 18 goals, 40 assists and 58 points with a plus-38. He has also played in one career NHL game with the Edmonton Oilers in 2024.

Prior to turning professional, Kemp played three seasons at Yale University from 2017-20. In 88 collegiate games, the defenseman recorded nine goals, 18 assists and 27 points. Kemp played two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2015-17, captaining the Under-17 and Under-18 teams.

The Greenwich, Connecticut native won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2017 World Under-18 Championship and a silver medal at the 2019 World Junior Championship.

Kemp was drafted in the seventh round (208th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft by Edmonton.

Harvey-Pinard has appeared in at least one NHL game in the last four seasons – he got off to an exciting start in Montreal putting up 20 points in 34 NHL games during the 2022-23 season but then saw his game recede back towards mostly being minor league. Still, it feels like a good bet that Harvey-Pinard could be a call-up and see some NHL action at some point during the long season for Pittsburgh while providing Wilkes-Barre with a quality player. In some ways, this could be seen as the Emil Bemstrom-adjacent player for 2025-26.

Kemp, has 259 NHL pro games as Tony Androck pointed out, a magic number since 260+ sends him into AHL Veteran territory. Kemp could be seen as something of the new version of Nathan Clurman — who played one NHL game in Pittsburgh in 2024-25 and served as a key veteran blueliner for Wilkes for most of the season that isn’t going to wow anyone but can be steady, capable and competent. Not the sexiest signing, Kemp might be like 47th or 48th in the pecking order for NHL contracts, but it provides a necessary move to add some depth and provide value deeper down the line for the organization.

WBS kept going with signings, announcing two AHL contracts today as well.

Both of these could be very quality AHL moves. Gauthier was the ECHL goalie of the year in 2023-24. Pittsburgh didn’t give him a qualifying offer or NHL contract but the goalie is a solid minor league depth option. It’s a positive that he wanted to return and can squeeze in with an AHL contract.

Aidan McDonough, 25, scored 16 points (10G+6A) in 16 AHL games last year for Charlotte before dealing with a long-term injury. McDonough isn’t in the NHL picture but should make for a very solid option for Wilkes this season as a quality AHL player.