Player Discussion Jayden Struble Part 2
- Thread starter montreal
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montreal
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I have been working on a welcome to the Habs vid but keep putting it off, so once I get through a few more Reinbacher vids and Fowler (only have a few days left w/sub ready for a break)
BLONG7
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This certainly looks like a very nice list.
Have the Habs and Gary met about Mailloux??
As for Struble, the guy has been making some serious noise since dev camp....
JT3
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- May 27, 2013
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I think we all fell asleep at the wheel a bit when it comes to Struble, not many of us watch a whole lot of NCAA (especially Northeastern this year), so stat watching didn't do him any favours. But watching him in Laval opened my eyes at how far along he is defensively, not many have him penciled in to future lineups right now but his physical/defensive game can certainly fill a role. Not a bad puck mover either.
Matheson (may be a Hab for a long time? too early to tell?)
Savard (here in 1-2 years?)
Reinbacher
Guhle
Barron
Struble
Hutson
Xhekaj
Mailloux
Kovacevic
Harris
Engstrom
Norlinder (may still have value for a package-trade in future?)
Trudeau
Bettman and Mailloux meeting: I'm not sure when...maybe in near future (when we get closer to Sept or Oct...? before he plays in the AHL? or it's mainly/just for NHL, not AHL? not sure?).
Struble...everything I've read from our Laval coaches indicates they are happy with his DEFENSIVE PLAY. Seems to already be defensively mature/responsible. And, with a "Goal" Caufield (5'7 - 5'8)...and an skilled Lane Hutson (5'10ish) in near future...we will need more grit/toughness (Jay Struble)...to keep the Domis, Tkachuks, Bertuzzis FAR AWAY from our Caufields, Suzukis, Newhooks and Hutsons (and Pinards, Farrells, Mesars, etc, etc). We will need more JAY STRUBLE, GUHLE, ANDERSON...not less.
Struble (imo) is still getting underrated by too many Hab fans. Time to wake up (imho).
We're not going far in playoffs (2025? 2026?) with Caufields and Hutsons only...we will need more Jay Struble in playoffs (not less). We need to get tougher/bigger and better (not just tougher/bigger!) for playoffs/near future. Struble can play defense, skate well AND be gritty/tough.
Huge cheers for that in advance! (I'm sure from many of us huge Hab fans!).
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That's what I've been reading, as well. Sounds great! Struble is definitely underrated!
Estimated_Prophet
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- Mar 28, 2003
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The stat watchers predictably soured on him but I think the real hockey people on the board knew he was still a legitimate NHL prospect.
I keep saying "There is something about this guy"
For me it was the injuries that were the concern. Being injury prone will always be a source of worry in the development sphere; ie missing time to bolster play and forge experience.
But yes, his profile isn’t suited to be a crowd pleaser. Now that he got his first pro foray, you can figure out a role for him. He’s seemingly back to a promising road to the NHL as a 5/6, which is very nice. I wish him all the luck in the health department.
montreal
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StCaufield
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BehindTheTimes
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Andrei79
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He was solid defensively the games Ive seen since turning pro. I think there's a tendency to ignore tools, especially if a player isn't flashy or doesn't show eye popping IQ offensively. Things like strength, speed, positioning, stick work and good consistent habits get the job done in the pros and he seems to have enough of them.
montreal
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Struble though is an extreme example though as normally i would be laughed at if I suggested we sign a 4th year Senior that just finished tied for 140th OA in points among NCAA defensemen. I mean that's f***ing brutal when you put it in that context.
But he's so strong physically, elite skating/mobility. Really seems to enjoy hitting people. But the offense is just not been there. For all the crap Harris got for his muffin shot, Struble in 4 years had only 9 goals and at least 2 were empty net or from the red line. He will be very interesting to follow in Laval as he's got a number of tools but he's shown almost zero ability to score goals.
Andrei79
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This is it though. Sometimes the tools are so off the charts compared to other comparables that you can look past the statistics. McDonagh wasn't a world beater. Neither was Ryan Graves. But, you're looking at players with the combination of size/strength/skating/aggressiveness/defensive ability in that highest bracket.
Estimated_Prophet
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Struble has a bomb but it wasn't used enough. He has decent puck skills and better offensive IQ than his stats would suggest and I expect him to be something of a faster version of Chiarot although he might turn out to be meaner albeit not as big but equally as strong.
Stat watching does not mesh with the eye test and I think he has 30+ point potential but it may take a while.
It should also be mentioned that he is on record stating that he is looking forward to being able to fight and even though we haven't seen him do it he says that he can throw 'em.
He has been such an underrated prospect on this board which is partly attributed to his injuries but too much emphasis is put on his stats. Stats can be very deceiving with dmen as they are so reliant on the forwards and systems unless they are truly special like Hutson is. His ability to skate the puck and his quick feet will allow him to join the rush as well as buy time in the O zone and his clapper and wrister which are both very good should eventually start producing results.
Most underrated prospect we have. Honestly might be an unpopular opinion but I like his long term outlook for this team better then Xhekaj and Harris. He is probably more physical then Arber and has far superior skating and can move the puck way better. I think with the strength on the left side and pending if Engstrom and Struble continue to develop, Harris and Xhekaj may be expendable in the near future. They simply do not have as much dimensions to their game and Xhekaj leaves lots to be desired puck moving wise( still lots of time to develop though and I am a huge fan.). Not to mention Lane Hutson I consider to be a slam dunk 50+ point dman in the future minimum. The future of our defense looks bright, still far deeper on the left side but once we are ready to compete and get some dead cap off the books perhaps we could get a solid top 4 RHD through free agency or trade. Our Defense is insanely deep with young players and prospects it it will be interesting to see who all pans out.
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We're not going far in playoffs (2025? 2026?) with Caufields and Hutsons only...we will need more Jay Struble in playoffs (not less). We need to get tougher/bigger and better (not just tougher/bigger!) for playoffs/near future. Struble can play defense, skate well AND be gritty/tough.
Hutson - Reinbacher
Guhle - Mailloux
Xhekaj - Engstrom
Kovacevic
We don't need Struble with that D-Corps and all those players have more upside than him.
The two more iffy defensive players (Hutson and Mailloux) have the potential to be Star offensive Ds and their pairing partners Reinbacher and Guhle will take care of the D part for them.
montreal
Go Habs Go
I was much more impressed with McDonagh in the USHS and NCAA then I was with Struble though, big difference in how noticeable they were. But to some degree I get it, I'm not a stats guy at all so for me it's eye test or nothing, and to be fair McDonagh was a beast at both ends of the ice, he won states in his junior year with CDH vs David Fischer's team and he did it in the toughest USHS comp in the entire US.
One things for sure, in going back and re-watching so many of his vids, man is Jordan Harris good. He was much better then Struble but he has the physical tools that Harris lacks.
I don't recall ever seeing him with a bomb of a shot but I didn't watch him too much this year.
At this point he doesn't look like someone that could put up 30 points in the NHL in his career so 30+ pts seems a shit ton.
Estimated_Prophet
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Yeah McDonagh was so good but the stat weenies were down on him after each of his D+1 and D+2 seasons. He was so much better than Subban when they went head to head in the 2013-14 conference finals as well.
I do think that Struble has at least Chiarot level offensive upside but North Eastern's style of play is not conducive to high point totals for dmen.
Estimated_Prophet
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That is a distinct possibility and he could really make us look bad for doing so. Having both os Struble and Xhekaj in the lineup would be terrifying for opposing forwards as both are absolutely ferocious and I suspect Struble will prove to be a formidable scrapper as well.
Hopefully the players that Hughes chooses to move bring back nice returns because you are right, there just aren't enough chairs to accommodate our ridiculous pool of dmen.
They'll have some tough decisions to make in a couple of years, hopefully, they keep the right guys!
montreal
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The problem isn't as much the totals, which of course are beyond brutal, as 1 goal for a Senior I don't think I can even recall a top 50 pick getting just 1 goal off the top of my head. What concerned me more was their coach, when Jerry Keefe took over when Madigan got the bump up to AD, he was well known for his PP's and it didn't take long for him to go with other players on the PP which with that lineup and lack of skill on the blueline was not a good look.
