Finn Harding – Second Time’s the Charm?
By Christian Lazar
Every season there are one or two players on a team that take a massive leap forward in their development. For the Mississauga Steelheads, nobody better exemplified that than Finn Harding.
Over the last two seasons, the 6’1 defenseman went from an eighth round pick in the OHL Priority Selection Draft, to a legitimate NHL draft prospect. At the same time he’s become one of the Trout’s most reliable defensemen.
As a rookie, Harding was more of a bottom pairing defenseman and wasn’t facing high expectations – he was an eighth round pick after all. This past year he set a franchise record in plus-minus (+39) and was logging more minutes than nearly anyone else on his team every night.
How was he able to make such a big leap? There was one word that came to his mind when thinking about what led to his evolution.
“Confidence I think is the best word to use there, I gained a lot of confidence after that first year,” said Harding. “The game definitely slowed down, I was able to make plays with more poise.”
Confidence may be the key word he points to, but it’s the work he put in last offseason that has allowed Harding to feel that way about his game.
“My strength definitely took a big jump from my rookie season,” said Harding. “It really helped me this season (become) a really solid defender to be able to defend any type of player.”
It was noticeable early in the season that the Toronto native was a more polished player, but it wasn’t until halfway through the year that fans started to see a side of him they hadn’t seen before.
The defenseman started mixing it up more, going from the guy who pulled teammates out of scrums to the one that needed to be wrestled away from the commotion. This wasn’t a coincidence either.
Just like most players his age Harding’s ultimate goal is to make it to the NHL, and he recognized that gritty aspect of his game was missing. He made a point to add it.
“To be a good defender, you’ve got to do it all – whether it’s to get gritty or be clean and have a good stick – and I think I tried to implement that,” said Harding. “Being hard to play against is something I take a lot of pride in, whether that means getting in a guy’s face or whatever, that’s definitely something that I tried to add.”
Progress hasn’t always been linear for the former Toronto Jr. Canadien, as he already had one shot at the NHL draft, where he was passed over by all 32 teams. The things he learned last summer going through that process have him feeling much more prepared this time around.
“Finding that identity of being hard to play against, I think that’s been the biggest difference,” said Harding. “I think that comes with maturity and I realized that’s my role and that’s the role I want to play and I take pride in that.”
His development and all the hard work he’s put in has paid off in more ways than one, as in his second crack at the NHL draft he is ranked #130 on NHL’s Central Scouting board for North American skaters, making him the 11th ranked defenseman in the OHL.
While acknowledging that hearing his name get called by an NHL team would be a dream come true, he knows that just getting drafted isn’t the end of the journey – it’s just the beginning.
“It would definitely be a step in the right direction to get drafted, but I think regardless of the outcome the workload stays the same, or even bumps up. It would obviously be a super awesome experience but I’m focused on working towards being the best player I can be.”
