Harrold back in black

For the last two days in practice, Peter Harrold has been wearing the black jersey of a defenseman. He had been skating at right wing for the past couple weeks, alongside Patrick O’Sullivan and Brian Boyle, but Terry Murray’s shuffling has put Harrold back at his natural position. It also seems to have put him out of the lineup, at least temporarily, but after practice Murray talked about the value of Harrold’s versatility…

MURRAY: “I really want to look at him as a utility player. I think that’s a great kind of player to have, if you can develop it and if a player is willing to buy into it. It’s a defenseman and a forward who can play on the power play when he’s in the lineup. Eventually, I’d like to see — if he’s in the lineup as a forward — him get into the penalty kill as a forward, and still slide back into a blue-line situation if need be. I think that with the way the game is today, it’s a great asset for an organization. The reason he has been on the blue line in the last couple days of practice is, because I’m a little prejudiced toward the D, I think it’s a little tougher place to play than a wing. I just don’t want him to lose sight of what it is.”

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Here are Harrold’s thoughts on the right-wing experiment…

Question: What do you take away from this experience that might help you as a defenseman?

HARROLD: “It gives you a little better respect for what forwards have to do. I’d never really played forward, so it was kind of a first-hand experience as to what they have to do in their own end. It helps me as a defenseman, because now I know where they need to be and what they expect. I need to make sure the passes are tape-to-tape, and it’s hard to battle on the wall if you don’t do a certain thing for them. It’s little things like that.”

Question: Do you feel like you’re more valuable to the team, if they know you can play both positions?

HARROLD: “That’s a big thing for me, to be able to learn how to do something like that. That makes me a little more valuable and it adds another dimension to my game. Hopefully, if they need me, they can plug me in anywhere. That’s a good asset to have.”

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