Jayden Struble will be playing for his future with the Montreal Canadiens this season, and he'll need to make a statement if he doesn't want to fall down in the hierarchy.
Montreal Canadiens’ defenseman Jayden Struble now has four years of professional hockey under his belt, but he has yet to establish himself as a full-time NHLer. For the last three seasons, he’s been in a duel with teammate Arber Xhekaj for the sixth defenseman role. Thanks to the injury bug, though, they’ve both seen a fair bit of action. Last year, Struble skated in 59 games with an average of 14:01 of ice time, while Xhekaj saw action in 65 games but only averaged 11:25 of ice time. However, in the playoffs, Struble played in 12 games and averaged 11:40 of ice time, while Xhekaj played in 13 games but averaged only 8:06.
What the last playoffs made very evident is that coach Martin St-Louis doesn’t trust the rugged Xhekaj to play a complete and reliable game. The bench boss is not keen on players taking themselves out of the play to land a big hit, and while Xhekaj has all but eradicated that from his game, it seems like St-Louis believes that a leopard doesn’t change its spots. Now is the time for Struble to step in and claim that 6th defenseman, whether Xhekaj is still with the Canadiens or not.
The duel is about to become a three-way battle at best since Adam Engstrom appears all but ready to make the jump to the NHL and the team seems keen on giving David Reinbacher a shot at making the team out of training camp. Struble is entering the final year of his contract, which carries a $1, 412,500 cap hit, and he finds himself in an “It’s now or never” situation.
Thankfully for him, he forms a good tandem with Lane Hutson when he’s called upon to play with the young star, and that might just be what gave him the edge over Xhekaj in the playoffs. Before talking about season expectations for Struble, we should really be talking about training camp expectations, because that’s where he’ll put his NHL job on the line.
If Xhekaj remains a Canadiens player and signs a new contract, Struble will have to beat him, Engstrom and Reinbacher at training camp to earn a spot in the lineup. A strong start is always a good way to catch the coach’s eye, and the Northeastern University alumni should be riding high after earning St-Louis’ trust in the playoffs. Struble needs to make a statement that he deserves the sixth spot on the blueline and that it’s not time to move on from him to give Engstrom or Reinbacher NHL minutes.
He’s never been a big point producer, and that’s not about to change; what he needs to do is play a smart game, one that is based on solid decision-making and a heavy physical game without going overboard. You can fully expect Struble to come out strong because one way or another, he’ll be playing to earn a new contract with the Habs, and he needs to fend off the competition. At the end of the season, he’ll be an RFA with arbitration rights if he convinces Kent Hughes to give him a qualifying offer. That shouldn’t be too hard, since the GM is not one to lose assets without getting anything in return. Sooner or later, though, the Canadiens will have to do something about the logjam on their blueline; as things stand, Struble is not the one who’s rumored to be on the move, but rumors tend to be just that and don’t always come to fruition.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
