Stu Cowan: Jayden Struble battling to keep regular spot with Canadiens
For the second time in two weeks, defenceman narrowly avoids being a healthy scratch and responds with his second goal in two games.
Maybe we should start calling it the Jayden Struble Jinx.
Or the Luck of Jayden Struble.
For the second time in less than two weeks, Struble was slated to be a healthy scratch for the Canadiens when they played the Utah Hockey Club Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. And for the second time, another defenceman ended up with an injury and Struble was put in the lineup.
On Nov. 16, when the Canadiens beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 at the Bell Centre, Struble was supposed to be a healthy scratch. But David Savard ended up being a late scratch with an upper-body injury and Struble played.
On Tuesday, it was Mike Matheson who was a late scratch with a lower-body injury, allowing Struble to get in the lineup. Struble ended up scoring his second goal of the season — and his second in two games — as the Canadiens lost 3-2 in overtime to Utah.
Matheson will also miss Wednesday’s game in Columbus against the Blue Jackets (7:30 p.m., SNE, RDS), meaning Struble will be in the lineup for the 17th straight game. Struble missed the first five games this season with an upper-body injury, but has yet to be a healthy scratch after the two close calls.
“The first time was really tough because I didn’t know the whole day until it was very, very late,” Struble said after Tuesday’s game about getting in the lineup when Savard was injured. “This time (with Matheson) was easy. They told me at the end of morning skate, so it was just a normal day for me.”
Struble’s game-day routine is pretty simple and it doesn’t change whether he’s going to be in the lineup or not, which helps. After the morning skate, he gets something to eat and then goes home for a long nap.
“Eat, nap, get dressed, come here (to the Bell Centre) for a hot tub, do stretches and stuff,” Struble said about his routine. “That’s about it.”
There’s a fierce competition for jobs on the Canadiens’ blue line with so many young defencemen. Of the seven defenceman on the current roster, Matheson (30) and David Savard (34) are the only veterans. Struble, Justin Barron and Arber Xhekaj are all 23, Kaiden Guhle is 22 and Lane Hutson is 20. There’s also Logan Mailloux, 21, playing for the AHL’s Laval Rocket and David Reinbacher, 20, who suffered a knee injury during the pre-season that will sideline him for most if not all of this season.
Struble is determined to make the most of his opportunity and has already beaten out his good friend and former Northeastern University teammate Jordan Harris for a job. Harris, 24, was dealt to Columbus during the off-season in exchange for Patrik Laine and a second-round pick at the 2026 NHL Draft.
“It doesn’t really play a factor, I don’t think,” Struble said about competing for a job with teammates who are also friends. “When J.B.’s in and I was supposed to be out (against Utah), you come to the rink and it’s: ‘Hey, what’s up, J.B.? You know that you could be out, he could be in. I really don’t think about it at a personal level. Just whoever’s in, I’m rooting for him.”
“This guy’s a natural athlete, but he’s also a hockey player,” Trevor Timmins, the Canadiens’ former assistant GM, said after drafting Struble. “He’s really intense.”
Apart from hockey, Struble played lacrosse, basketball and baseball while growing up in Rhode Island. He could dunk a basketball in his early teens and in baseball went to the 2014 Little League World Series with his Cumberland American team as a slugging first-baseman. At the NHL Combine before being drafted by the Canadiens, Struble finished first in the bench press, grip strength (right and left), the standing long jump and one of two Wingate Cycle Ergometer tests.
With two goals in two games, Struble is now showing he has some offensive skills and a good shot. His goal against Utah came after he took a pass from Cole Caufield and skated into the high slot before beating goalie Karel Vejmelka high to the blocker side.
“He had no eyes (because he was screened) so I put it where I wanted to and I knew he couldn’t see it,” Struble said about his goal.
Struble’s goal now is to play well enough and be consistent enough that it will be difficult for head coach Martin St. Louis to make him a healthy scratch.
“It’s tough,” Struble said about the competition for a spot in the lineup. “But it’s the same thing … you just come to the rink and you get ready like you’re going to play. You do the same thing throughout the week practising, work hard. But, for sure, being a solidified guy would be nice.”
