Devils give new deal to home-grown forward Harewood

Forward Bayley Harewood has played games for Cardiff Devils in each of the past four seasons

Cardiff Devils have signed home-grown forward Bayley Harewood and the Elite League side will give him the chance to secure a full-time position on their roster.

The 22-year-old from Barry has played games for Devils in each of the past four seasons and featured in the Continental Cup final last season, assisting on a goal in the final game to help the Devils lift their first European title.

Harewood has starred for National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) side Bristol Pitbulls for the past three years, claiming 55 points (17 goals, 38 assists) in 2023-24 and 73 points (27 goals, 46 assists) in 2024-25.

Devils head coach Paul Thompson said: "We signed Bayley because we believe he can move up from the NIHL and has the potential to become a solid Elite League level player for the Devils.

"He will get every chance over the pre-season period to show me he wants to stay on the roster and that he belongs here. I look forward to seeing him hopefully reach his potential."

Devils managing director Todd Kelman said Harewood could still feature for Pitbulls if it was decided he would benefit from regular game time, but that he would be given every opportunity to become a day-to-day part of the Devils set-up.

"We want Bayley with us every day, training with the team, in the gym with the guys and learning how to perform at this level on and off the ice," Kelman said.

"The agreement we have with Bristol is if we feel he will benefit from playing games with Bristol, we have the option to send him to the Pitbulls, with the caveat that we can call him up when we need him, but that is our call, not theirs.

"Bayley now has the best opportunity to prove he can be a full time Cardiff Devil."

Harewood played his youth hockey for the Junior Devils before moving to Canada to continue his development.

He returned to the UK and played the 2019-20 season for Basingstoke Bison, starting the 2021-22 season with Berkshire Bees before moving to Telford mid-season and went on to win the League Championship with the Tigers.

After starting the 2022-23 season with Telford and playing 19 games, Harewood moved to Bristol during the 2022-23 season.