“When he goes pro, Jayden is going to need some time in the American League. »
The person who spoke like this was not a television analyst, speaking in a telephone show or a customer at the chic Bar de la Plaza.
It was more like Kent Hughes. And the general manager of the Canadian did not make these comments in 2019, following the drafting of Jayden Struble by the Canadian. He held them 10 months ago, last February.
The most zealous will say that Hughes did not specify what he meant by “time.” But it is reasonable to believe that he would not have expressed himself in this way if he had believed that around twenty matches would be enough for Struble.
Now, here we are Friday noon, at the Canadiens training center, surrounding Struble around his locker. Since his NHL debut on November 22 in Anaheim, the defenseman has played in every game for his team. And unless some smart kid pushes a toolbox down the stairs and smashes it against the wall, all signs point to him playing his 12th NHL game Saturday night against the Islanders.
“You have to see how far an athlete can go, know if he has another level,” recalled the Canadiens head coach, Martin St-Louis, after training on Friday. So far, Strubs is showing us another level. It’s encouraging. »
Obviously, after such a thin sample, it would be imprudent to proclaim the end of his internship in the American League. Let’s just say he’s on hold, after playing 9 games at the end of last season, and 12 this season.
Mattias Norlinder and Gustav Lindström also seemed ahead of Struble on the board, judging by the fact that they remained in camp until the very end. Even Logan Mailloux stayed until the penultimate preparatory match.
Today, Mailloux and Norlinder are in Laval, while Lindström became supernumerary when David Savard returned two games ago. Struble is certainly helped by the fact that he is left-handed, but if he were truly bad, St-Louis would not keep him on its roster simply to have three left-handers and three right-handers.
The most immediate threat to his position is his good friend Jordan Harris, who is injured and expected to return sometime around Christmas. But injuries happen in hockey, the Canadian of the last two years gives you a note.
If we refer to Hughes’ comments at the start of the article, Struble therefore had many rivals to get ahead of when he reached an agreement with the CH in March. Some hopefuls, in such a situation, would have been tempted to drop the Canadian’s offer and explore the autonomy market in order to end up in an organization with less depth.
“My approach was I was going to have to win a job, no matter where,” Struble said. There are too many good players everywhere to be afraid anyway. I knew that if I did what I had to do, I would put myself in a good position. And now I’m trying to get started on the right foot. I think I’ve done it, I’ve made a name for myself, I hope to continue. »
It is with play without artifice that Struble is hanging on, for now. His two goals certainly attract attention, but his wording on the subject (“the two times I was there, it worked”) indicates that he does not see himself as an attacking defender. His nine goals in four seasons at Northeastern already gave a good indication of this.
Struble is also protected in his assignments. His playing time has been limited to an average of 12:45 per game, almost exclusively at 5v5. Trevor Lewis, Lars Eller and Ryan Lomberg are among the forwards he has faced the most, according to Natural Stat Trick, a reminder that St-Louis is trying to confront him with deep trios.
On Wednesday, when the Penguins visited, he spent exactly 28 seconds on the ice at the same time as Sidney Crosby. “Seeing him, I knew I was probably going to have to disembark quickly. I just enjoyed my ride to the bench! “, joked the American.
Perhaps the most impressive statistic in his case is the “0” in the penalty minutes column. He had accumulated 190 in 104 games in the NCAA, and 29 in 12 games in Laval.
Should we also remember that Xhekaj, even though he has only played 17 of CH’s 29 matches this season, is still 2nd in the team with 11 minor penalties? It’s unclear if this explains it, but in any case, Struble chose his moment well to show discipline.
