It's only been a couple weeks since Jansen Harkins made his NHL debut with the Winnipeg Jets and already he's climbing the ladder.
The architect of two well-deserved assists drawing fourth-line duty in his first four games, the 22-year-old former Prince George Cougar forward was rewarded in the third period of Thursday's home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs when Jets head coach Paul Maurice bumped him to the third line playing the left side with Adam Lowry and Jack Roslovic.
Harkins was aggressive on the forecheck throughout the game, using his speed to get to loose pucks and several times set up his teammates for quality scoring chances. That diligent work ethic did not go unnoticed.
"He's been playing hard and moving well, he's got some hands and put some points up in the American League, so it was just a different look," said Maurice, in the aftermath of a 6-3 loss to the Leafs.
The all-time scoring leader in Cougars' history with 242 points in 275 games over four seasons, Harkins has had 2 1/2 seasons of pro hockey to reinvent himself. He was still a fuzzy-cheeked teenager the last time he skated for the Cougars as a 19-year-old. Now, sporting a full beard, he's playing like belongs in the man's world that is NHL. He's developed the thick hide, gristle and survival instincts that come with hanging around the playground of the pros.
Called up for a Dec. 21 game in Winnipeg against the Minnesota Wild, Harkins got in on the scoring action late in the game when he fed Logan Shaw a perfect pass into the slot to cap off a 6-0 win. A few games later hedrew an assist in a 4-1 loss in St. Louis Blues after he outmuscled Blues defenceman Robert Bortuzzo along the side boards to free the puck to Shaw, who passed to Nicholas Shore for a onetimer that tied the game.
"The biggest thing you get from those little things is self-assurance that you belong and you can play at that level - obviously it's a tough league and anything like that will help you out," said Harkins, whose Jets begin a four-game trip Saturday, with games upcoming in Minnesota, Montreal, Toronto and Boston.
"It's exciting to be here, it's still pretty fresh, every day is pretty exciting and just a lot of fun, really.
Obviously, there are times that are tougher than others and it's a bit of a roller-coaster and to get here is exciting for my family too, having that hockey background, it's kind of a dream come true."
Harkins was selected Friday to represent the Manitoba Moose ini the AHL All-Star Classic, Jan. 26-27 in Ontario, Calif.
"Honestly, I think it's a bigger jump from junior to pro, than going from the AHL up," Harkins said. "In pro hockey, the systems and structure are so huge and having the similarities between the Moose and the Jets it makes it an easier transition."
Since being drafted in 2015 by the Jets in the second round, 47th overall, Harkins has had a few setbacks. In his rookie season with the Moose he was sent down to the Jacksonville IceMen for a six-game stint just before Christmas - a stinging blow to his confidence - but he went on to become an everyday player last season with 15 goals and 31 points in 70 games.
Harkins was born in Cleveland, the same hometown as his father Todd, whose NHL career as a centre with the Calgary Flames and Hartford Whalers spanned 48 games and six points over three seasons from 1991-94. Todd, the first Ohio-born NHL player, went the NCAA route with Miami of Ohio, and was drafted by the Flames in the second round, 42nd overall. He went on to play seven pro seasons in the NHL/AHL/IHL, finishing has career with a four-year stint in Germany. Todd started coaching major midget hockey and in 2012 joined the Cougars as a scout and was the team's general manager from 2014-18, while Jansen was with the team.
The Cougars selected Jansen second overall in the WHL bantam draft, right after Matthew Barzal and just ahead of Brendan Guhle, his roommate in their final season with the Cougars. Todd and his brother Brett, a former NHL left winger with Boston, Florida and Columbus, both played U.S. college hockey and Jansen thought about it but Todd and his wife Kirsten decided playing in the WHL for Prince George offered a more direct path to the NHL.
"We always knew with him he would work hard to follow his dream, regardless of which way he went, we just knew it would be a matter of time," said Todd. "He's a man now, he's matured. The while experience for him in Prince George was very positive. He became a hockey player in that town and it's something the team and the city should be proud of, to produce another NHL hockey player.
"It just shows you it's a great place to play hockey. We have fond memories of our life there and we were obviously very lucky to be there to watch our kids develop and for him to become a man."
Jansen struggled his first year with the well-stocked Moose and wasn't having fun and Todd considered the possibility of getting him back with the Cougars for his final season of junior eligibility, but he remained in Winnipeg.
"As a hockey player, I just kept encouraging him to stay positive and work hard and do the extra little things that are going to make a big difference," said Todd. "When you see him away from the rink in the summers and how hard he worked to get bigger, faster and stronger. He'd run up my driveway 20 times every other day with a 25-pound weight to get bigger legs and be faster and stronger on the puck."
Todd, who now coaches an academy bantam team in Vancouver at St. George's School, learned of Jansen's NHL callup while flying to Florida for a family visit with his parents. He listened to Jansen's voicemail and burst into tears.
"I started crying right away because I couldn't believe it," said Todd. "This little boy when he was three of four years old had a dream to play in the NHL and finally got an opportunity to be called up.
We knew he was playing well in the minors for Manitoba and being player of the month we thought maybe something like that would happen, but you never know."
As the son of an NHL pro who also struggling for several years in the minors to make it, Jansen has always turned to his dad for advice.
"It's pretty special to share that, he obviously knows what I went through to get here and I know he's really proud," said Jansen. "It was just countless days of just sticking with it, trying to get better, and one day you kind of wake up and you're here.
"Everything's a bit different from junior or the minors, it's in a class of its own - the pace of play, the travel, just the amenities, everything is what you dream it would be like. You look forward to playing some pretty great players and the while thing is pretty surreal. I'm excited to get to work every day and just trying to enjoy it as much as I can."
Jansen's billet parents in Prince George, Sharon and Elmer Stafford, were among the first people he texted to let them know he was on his way to the NHL, while Todd put the word out right away to his former Cougar connections - Mark Hollick, Richard Matvichuk, Dallas Thompson and Wade Klippenstein.
"I put in a lot of work and lot of time with hundreds of different people to get here and they've all had a huge impact on my journey," said Jansen. "It's hard to reach out to everyone, but I think they know I'm appreciative of everything they've done for me."
