Player Discussion Jayden Struble Part 2

[montreal]

Him and his agent see Harris, Guhle and possibly Barron as potential rookies next season; meaning he would have to go to Laval for sure. Aussi ben compléter son diplôme universitaire. @montreal saw him play a lot - is he really as ready as Harris?

no, he's not close to Harris's level of play, he doesn't have Harris's IQ, poise. His game though is about power, as he's really strong and likes to hit people. He's improved his defensive game but needs more work on his offensive game and he's got a temper that gets him in trouble at times.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

Let him go back. Frankly, he's not ready. I want him to be more assertive offensively. And there's even bigger chances that he signs with us due to his relation with Hughes. But even if he doesn't...I just don't believe it would be that big of a deal.....obviously depending of how he plays in the upcoming year.

We have no room for him. He needs the development. To me, it's the easiest decision ever.

I agree

 

[Whitesnake]

no, he's not close to Harris's level of play, he doesn't have Harris's IQ, poise. His game though is about power, as he's really strong and likes to hit people. He's improved his defensive game but needs more work on his offensive game and he's got a temper that gets him in trouble at times.

It,s all about his last season. 'Cause frankly, he might very well fit in the category of not signing him at all. You can't just be a wrecking ball. All great he's a freak physically. It's only important if you play hockey the right way. Maybe though you use your contract to make him develop even more in the AHL. For a couple of years. But if they really intend to use him a lot in NE, might as well let them do it and see.

 

[26Mats]

Let him go back. Frankly, he's not ready. I want him to be more assertive offensively. And there's even bigger chances that he signs with us due to his relation with Hughes. But even if he doesn't...I just don't believe it would be that big of a deal.....obviously depending of how he plays in the upcoming year.

We have no room for him. He needs the development. To me, it's the easiest decision ever.

Secure his rights so he doesn't walk.

Laval d core next year:

Guhle (maybe Barron)
Struble Xhekaj
Fairbrother Brook

Harris in MTL

 

[CAUFIELD]

Secure his rights so he doesn't walk.

Laval d core next year:

Guhle (maybe Barron)
Struble Xhekaj
Fairbrother Brook

Harris in MTL

I bet Ghule and Harris start in the NHL next year

Barron in Laval

 

[montreal]

It,s all about his last season. 'Cause frankly, he might very well fit in the category of not signing him at all. You can't just be a wrecking ball. All great he's a freak physically. It's only important if you play hockey the right way. Maybe though you use your contract to make him develop even more in the AHL. For a couple of years. But if they really intend to use him a lot in NE, might as well let them do it and see.

I don't agree, you 100% sign him and hope you can develop him with a couple years in the AHL imo.

 

[26Mats]

I bet Ghule and Harris start in the NHL next year

Barron in Laval

Point is, there's room for Struble!

 

[dcyhabs]

It,s all about his last season. 'Cause frankly, he might very well fit in the category of not signing him at all. You can't just be a wrecking ball. All great he's a freak physically. It's only important if you play hockey the right way. Maybe though you use your contract to make him develop even more in the AHL. For a couple of years. But if they really intend to use him a lot in NE, might as well let them do it and see.

You sort of have to give the physical freaks a shot, though, because it raises their ceilings.

 

[Whitesnake]

I don't agree, you 100% sign him and hope you can develop him with a couple years in the AHL imo.

Which is what I said in the latter part of my post.

 

[Whitesnake]

You sort of have to give the physical freaks a shot, though, because it raises their ceilings.

Maybe so. Joe Stejskal was the same kind of freak though. So it's not exactly a gimme...but frankly, to me, it will depends on his last year.

 

[Whitesnake]

Point is, there's room for Struble!

Barron-Ouellet
Fairbrother-Xhejaj
Bisson-Belpedio
Brook-Norlinder
Amarosa-Dello
Mattinen

Will Niku be gone? Probably. Schuenerman in the NHL? Guhle too? Harris too?

Now I know you can let go a few guys there...Amarosa, Dello, Belpedio, Ouellet...but you still need vets on your team.

 

[26Mats]

Barron-Ouellet
Fairbrother-Xhejaj
Bisson-Belpedio
Brook-Norlinder
Amarosa-Dello

Will Niku be gone? Probably. Schuenerman in the NHL? Guhle too? Harris too?

Now I know you can let go a few guys there...Amarosa, Dello, Belpedio, Ouellet...but you still need vets on your team.

yes, it depends how many vets they want back.

I have Harris, Schue, and one of Barron or Guhle in the NHL.

So that would leave
Struble - Barron/Guhle
Fairbrother - Xhekaj
Norlinder - Brook

Brook would be the only vet.

 

[dcyhabs]

Maybe so. Joe Stejskal was the same kind of freak though. So it's not exactly a gimme...but frankly, to me, it will depends on his last year.

Doesn't change the floor, but you have to give the ceiling a chance. Chara and Keith... There was Ferland, way back, who was like that, too. Not the greatest player, but he'd go into the corners with anybody, and he was insanely strong. In AHL playoff series he'd lose a good fraction of the first puck battles, but he'd go into the corners just as hard at the end of the game, and at the end of the seventh game, as he did in the first. By the end of a series he'd have worn down the opposition and no one would want to go and fight with him for the puck. Too bad his other skills weren't good enough to get him to the NHL.

 

[Whitesnake]

And there's Nicolas Mattinen who somehow looks really impressive so far.

 

[Whitesnake]

yes, it depends how many vets they want back.

I have Harris, Schue, and one of Barron or Guhle in the NHL.

So that would leave
Struble - Barron/Guhle
Fairbrother - Xhekaj
Norlinder - Brook

Brook would be the only vet.

Makes no sense to me, but that's just my opinion. That D is just not good enough for a AHL lineup. So much incertainty. I added later on Mattinen who looks really impressive too.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

And there's Nicolas Mattinen who somehow looks really impressive so far.

''Really impressive'' might be a bit strong but he's doing better than I expected for a tryout fresh out of Usports, that's for sure . He's an interesting late bloomer project. Anytime you can find a giant like that who's not completely lost on the ice you pretty much have to take notice.

 

[Whitesnake]

''Really impressive'' might be a bit strong but he's doing better than I expected for a tryout fresh out of Usports, that's for sure . He's an interesting late bloomer project. Anytime you can find a giant like that who's not completely lost on the ice you pretty much have to take notice.

Well it's always based on expectations...when you expect the guy to just be a filler...he looks really good out there.

 

[26Mats]

Makes no sense to me, but that's just my opinion. That D is just not good enough for a AHL lineup. So much incertainty. I added later on Mattinen who looks really impressive too.

even if you don't have strublre, threre's only room for 1 other vet than Brook, if Norlinder, Xhekaj, Fairbrother, and one of Barron or Guhle are in Laval.

 

[CAUFIELD]

Point is, there's room for Struble!

Yes there is in the AHL

 

[MarkovsKnee]

I think we should trade his rights?

Next year in Laval potentially: Guhle, Xhekaj, Fairbrother, Norlinder and maybe Brook.

Then we have Harris, Barron and Schueneman as Montreal/Laval.

Romanov in Montreal.

That's already 8 young D & Schueneman (who is 26).

In 2023, when we're supposed to be signing Struble, we also have Mailloux, Trudeau and maybe Sobolev.

His advisor is probably telling him Montreal might not be in his best interests because of all the D prospects.

I would try to trade him for either a similar type forward (2nd rder) or as part of a larger package, like if we were to move Weber's contract Struble could be the prospect we send.

Not sure where he fits with us.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I think we should trade his rights?

Next year in Laval potentially: Guhle, Xhekaj, Fairbrother, Norlinder and maybe Brook.

Then we have Harris, Barron and Schueneman as Montreal/Laval.

Romanov in Montreal.

That's already 8 young D & Schueneman (who is 26).

In 2023, when we're supposed to be signing Struble, we also have Mailloux, Trudeau and maybe Sobolev.

His advisor is probably telling him Montreal might not be in his best interests because of all the D prospects.

I would try to trade him for either a similar type forward (2nd rder) or as part of a larger package, like if we were to move Weber's contract Struble could be the prospect we send.

Not sure where he fits with us.

He has a good relationship with Kent Hughes so I don't think we have to worry about him jumping ship elsewhere. If we get that sensation, I'm sure Kent Hughes will do what he needs to similar to the McBain situation this year.

I don't think Trudeau or Sobolev are on the radar for concern on Struble.

Struble has qualities that other prospects in the system don't have, he's probably our most physical and intimidating presence back there but with skating and offensive abilities. If you're confident in yourself, you probably believe you can crack the team.. plus Harris and Norlinder have experience playing the right side. Mailloux is a right side defender.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

He has a good relationship with Kent Hughes so I don't think we have to worry about him jumping ship elsewhere. If we get that sensation, I'm sure Kent Hughes will do what he needs to similar to the McBain situation this year.

I don't think Trudeau or Sobolev are on the radar for concern on Struble.

Struble has qualities that other prospects in the system don't have, he's probably our most physical and intimidating presence back there but with skating and offensive abilities. If you're confident in yourself, you probably believe you can crack the team.. plus Harris and Norlinder have experience playing the right side. Mailloux is a right side defender.

We have Guhle & Xhekaj who are pretty physical, and Romanov.

But, what's his projection: Gudas / Cole type?

 

[WeThreeKings]

We have Guhle & Xhekaj who are pretty physical, and Romanov.

But, what's his projection: Gudas / Cole type?

They are physical but other than Xhekaj, they aren't mean. Struble is a mean mother f***er out there, to his detriment at time.

I'd say a Gudas type with more puck skills.

 

[26Mats]

Makes no sense to me, but that's just my opinion. That D is just not good enough for a AHL lineup. So much incertainty. I added later on Mattinen who looks really impressive too.

The purpose of an AHL lineup is to develop the players for the NHL. That's it. Keeping vets to help the new guys makes sense only in so far as it helps develop the potential future NHLers. Barron, Guhle, and Norlinder are all close to NHL ready. Brook has many AHL seasons under his belt. Fairbrother, Struble, and Xhekaj would be the ones potentially on a lower level in their development. 3 in their lower phase and 3 in their upper phase would seem fine to me.

 

[montreal]

I think we should trade his rights?

Next year in Laval potentially: Guhle, Xhekaj, Fairbrother, Norlinder and maybe Brook.

Then we have Harris, Barron and Schueneman as Montreal/Laval.

Romanov in Montreal.

That's already 8 young D & Schueneman (who is 26).

In 2023, when we're supposed to be signing Struble, we also have Mailloux, Trudeau and maybe Sobolev.

His advisor is probably telling him Montreal might not be in his best interests because of all the D prospects.

I would try to trade him for either a similar type forward (2nd rder) or as part of a larger package, like if we were to move Weber's contract Struble could be the prospect we send.

Not sure where he fits with us.

I think at some point they may have to trade a D prospect or two, although if Struble were to turn pro now, which I'm guessing he won't, perhaps they would look to loan Norlinder back to Frolunda for a year or maybe Brook isn't re-signed since guys like Norlinder, Fairbrother, Xhekaj can play RD if need be though I would only want to see Norlinder at RD if we had to move a LD over.

We have Guhle & Xhekaj who are pretty physical, and Romanov.

But, what's his projection: Gudas / Cole type?

He's a tough one to figure out. I've seen most of his games and I'm not sure what he is. There's lots of times he reminds me a poor mans Subban, as he loves to rush the puck up ice and is a bull on skates as he is fast, strong and tough to knock off the puck. So I'd say he's an offensive D, the problem is the offense just isn't there.

I can't count how many times this season I would watch him skate up ice, make a nice move to get around someone but it would lead to nothing, no goal and at times no real scoring chance. So you think maybe he's just not good offensively. But you have to look at the team as well, at this time they were missing an entire line from their top 6 both Jackson brothers missed most of the season, the 2 Freshman that are local kids from Quebec plus Colangelo (who was 2nd on the team in pts) Only 5 forwards appeared in every game.

So what happened? He started out ok but then things just went to shit, he picked up 1 point in 16 games, the rest of the season he had 13 points in 18 games. So how did he go half a season with just 1 pt and the other half he put up decent numbers. Now it was early on when he was in this slump so that's when they were the most banged up. But so many times during that span he would rush up ice and nothing would happen. Later in the season he just started producing again. So which player are you getting, the one that slumped, the one that put up some numbers or something in the middle?

I really don't know. Going into this season he talked about how he worked on his shot and wanted to score more, he ended up with 3 goals and 1 of them was an empty net goal, another he scored from center ice as the goalie was caught off guard I guess. So how good can you really be offensively if you can't score goals? Yet his shot doesn't seem bad, just think he needs to use it more cause you don't really see a lot of it as he often passes the puck. He is good at rushing the puck up ice but then again so was Josh Brook and that didn't work out so well once he hit the AHL. Now unlike Brook, Struble already has NHL strength, he's not going to get knocked off a puck easily.

I have questioned his IQ defensively but he's shown good improvement there, though playing with one of the best goalies or perhaps the best goalie could make you look better. In the offensive zone he seems to create things but for whatever reason it just doesn't often lead to points. But outside of the slump, those 13 pts in 18 games, if he paced at that all season long and didn't miss 5 games to injury like he did, that would be 27 pts, which would place him just outside the top 20 and just outside the top 10 among U-21 D's.

So was it just the slump due in part to all the injuries up front or is he just not that good offensively. Keep in mind that while he's on the 2nd PP, that means he's likely getting around :30 seconds or so per PP and his team had a terrible PP this year of course.

I really don't know but I do look forward to seeing him with NU next year on the top pairing and top PP and see how it goes for him.