As the NCAA season begins to close for many teams in their conference tournaments, teams across the NHL are racing to get their prospects, as well as undrafted free agents signed up quickly.
For the Montreal Canadiens one such name was Jayden Struble, with the senior defenceman from Northeastern seeing his final year of eligibility come to an end after an upset loss to Providence in the Hockey East quarterfinals. For the Huskies, their odds to make the Frozen Four were slim without winning this tournament.
The contract will be two years and starts next season. Struble also signed an AHL contract and will finish this season with the Laval Rocket. Since his NHL contract starts in 2023-24, he will be eligible for the Rocket in the playoffs, should they make it there.
The Canadiens have agreed to terms on a two-year, entry-level contract (2023-24 to 2024-25) with defenseman Jayden Struble.#GoHabsGo https://t.co/Qts2VGJzLA
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 15, 2023
Struble will now join the professional ranks, another welcomed sight as both the Canadiens and the Laval Rocket are itching for more healthy bodies. An agile skating, physically gifted defender, Struble will likely add another nasty edge to a physical Canadiens defensive group.
Struble was the team’s second-round pick (46th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft. He becomes the sixth player from that class to get his entry-level contract, joining Cole Caufield, Mattias Norlinder, Gianni Fairbrother, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, and Arsen Khisamutdinov. Khisamutdinov had his contract terminated. Kirby Dach was also taken in that year’s draft.
