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Jayden Struble must now go through waivers if the Canadiens want to send him to Laval.

 Charles-Alexis Brisebois
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Jayden Struble must now go through waivers if the Canadiens want to send him to Laval.
Credit: Getty Images
The arrival of Alexandre Carrier changes the game in Montreal.

After all, on the blue line, the team replaced a right-handed player without an identity on the ice (Justin Barron) with a guy who is less offensive but much more stable.

And between you and me, Barron’s offense was sadly not really visible anymore.

If I were Martin St-Louis, tonight, I would keep Lane Hutson with Mike Matheson, I would put Kaiden Guhle with Alexandre Carrier, and I would play Arber Xhekaj with David Savard.

These are six guys, until proven otherwise, who are hard to take out of the lineup.

But you know, as well as I do, that the Canadiens have seven defensemen in town. The seventh is Jayden Struble – or the guy who lost the most following Justin Barron’s trade to Nashville.

Naturally, we see that Struble better secure his hat because his playing time will diminish like snow in the sun – unless there’s an injury and nothing changes, of course.

Before, Barron and he alternated. But now? I’m not saying that Arber Xhekaj or David Savard won’t occasionally give up their spot, but clearly, Struble is the odd one out.

And the Canadiens can’t even say they will send him to Laval because due to the age at which he signed in the NHL and his 78 games of experience in the show, he can no longer avoid waivers. That’s what Anthony Desaulniers said this morning on BPM Sports.

For the past eight games, he simply can no longer go down without being offered for free to other teams. And knowing Kent Hughes, he is not going to place Struble on waivers – with good reason.

The only defensemen who can go down right now are Guhle, Hutson, and Xhekaj. That won’t happen in any of the three cases.

(Credit: Cap Wages)
This means that the Canadiens have seen the situation develop and chose not to send him to Laval in recent weeks to maintain his eligibility. He is, until proven otherwise, an NHL player.

I wonder if the CH did this by choice… or because no one deserves a call-up to Laval’s blue line.

Right now, Struble, Michael Pezzetta, and Cayden Primeau are in the following position: they can’t go to Laval without risking waivers, they have shortcomings in their game, and they have six better defensemen, twelve better forwards, and one better goaltender ahead of them, respectively.

I wouldn’t be completely surprised if the lineup doesn’t change during the last three games before Christmas and that Struble, Pezz, and Primeau are still the odd ones out. To be continued.


In Brief

– A national treasure, this Gilbert.

– Oh really?

– Trading Justin Barron was the right thing to do.

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