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Jayden Struble

Canadiens Notes: Kahkonen, Xhekaj, Right Wing

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When the Montreal Canadiens signed veteran netminder Kaapo Kahkonen to a one-year, $1.15MM contract this summer, it was speculated by some that he could be viewed as a leading contender for the role of backup goalie behind entrenched starter Sam Montembeault. Today, The Athletic’s Arpon Basu reported that the competition for the job of No. 2 netminder is Jakub Dobes’ “job to lose instead of a real battle.” Basu also added that it appears the Canadiens’ plan in net has been “to have Kahkonen help mentor Jacob Fowler in Laval.”

Fowler, of course, is the Canadiens’ top goaltending prospect and a player widely seen as one of the top goalie prospects in the entire sport. Although Kahkonen is subject to waivers, Basu noted that the player’s $1.15MM cap hit, the maximum allowable value that a team can “bury” in the AHL without any residual cap hit applied to its NHL books, was likely signed to dissuade teams from claiming Kahkonen. The 29-year-old has played in 140 career NHL games and has an .898 save percentage. The Canadiens’ likely backup per today’s report, Dobes, broke into the NHL last season and ended up posting a .909 save percentage across 16 games played.

Some other notes from training camp in Montreal:

  • One of the emerging storylines in Canadiens camp has been the apparent growth of defenseman Arber Xhekaj, as was reported by Katherine Harvey-Pinard of La Presse. Basu echoed that sentiment in his own reporting, calling Xhekaj “outstanding” so far in camp, a performance that has given him a leg up to win a spot in the club’s opening-night lineup. With the way the Canadiens’ defense is constructed at this early stage of the preseason, it appears Xhekaj is competing against Jayden Struble, a fellow young bruising defenseman, to be the partner of Alexandre Carrier on the club’s third pairing. While there’s still a ways to go until these decisions get finalized, it appears Xhekaj has taken a strong early lead in the race for an opening-night lineup spot.
  • Basu identified the competition to be the third winger on a line with Alex Newhook and Zachary Bolduc as the “primary battle” to watch at this stage of training camp. 2021 fifth-rounder Joshua Roy skated on that line Sunday, while Owen Beck began camp in that spot. Both players are competing against veterans Sammy Blais and Joe Veleno for that lineup spot, while Basu also named 2022 third-rounder Vinzenz Rohrer as a dark-horse option. Rohrer has reportedly made a strong impression in training camp, but ultimately would need to be loaned back to Switzerland’s ZSC Lions should he fail to earn a job on Montreal’s season-opening roster.

Canadiens, Jayden Struble Avoid Arbitration With Two-Year Deal

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11:05 a.m.: According to PuckPedia, Struble will earn a $1.6MM salary in 2025-26, and a $1.225MM salary in 2026-27. He’ll be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights upon expiry.

8:30 a.m.: Despite having an arbitration hearing scheduled for August 3rd, defenseman Jayden Struble will no longer need it. According to a team announcement, the Montreal Canadiens have re-signed Struble to a two-year, $2.825MM contract ($1.4125MM AAV).

The new agreement is a little lower than Struble’s projected value heading into the summer. Before the start of the free agency period, AFP Analytics projected Struble to receive a two-year, $3.57MM contract in his first trip through restricted free agency. Still, it’s a fair price for a bottom-pairing/depth defenseman who can play on both sides of the blue line.

The Cumberland, RI native recently completed his second season with the Canadiens. Montreal originally selected Struble with the 46th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft, and he debuted with the team during the 2023-24 campaign after ending his career with the NCAA’s Northeastern University a year prior.

He’s been serviceable through his first two years, albeit not showing much growth so far. He scored three goals and 10 points in 56 games during his rookie season, averaging 16:07 of ice time per game. He showed some poise on the defensive side of the puck with a 92.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength. Still, his possession game left much to be desired with a 45.7% CorsiFor% at even strength.

Playing in an identical number of games in 2024-25, Struble barely increased his scoring, managing two goals and 13 points while averaging 14:57 of ice time. His possession game improved, averaging a 51.8% CF% at even strength, but his defensive game weakened with an 89.4% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

Although he may have been considered a decent two-way prospect for the Canadiens even a few years ago, too many defensemen have passed him on the organizational depth chart for him to hold the same value. Still, since he can play on both sides of the blue line, Struble has inherent value as a quality injury replacement should Montreal need it.

Arbitration Schedule For Remaining Cases Finalized

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The arbitration hearing dates for the few remaining unsettled cases have been finalized, PuckPedia reports:

F Kaapo Kakko, Kraken: July 25

G Arvid Soderblom, Blackhawks: July 28

F Maxim Tsyplakov, Islanders: July 29

D Dylan Samberg, Jets: July 30

D Conor Timmins, Sabres: Aug. 2

F Nicholas Robertson, Maple Leafs: Aug. 3

D Jayden Struble, Canadiens: Aug. 3

There are only seven out of this year’s initial 11 player-elected arbitration cases still without a resolution as the hearings approach. Winnipeg had three of the players on that list and has settled with two of them, reaching a two-year, $3.7MM settlement with Morgan Barron and a substantial six-year, $45MM deal for Gabriel Vilardi.

The Ducks also had two arbitration cases on that list, but settled with both of them in the past few days. Depth defenseman Drew Helleson got a two-year, $2.2MM contract, while emerging star goaltender Lukas Dostal signed a five-year, $32.5MM deal.

There were two team-elected arbitration cases this year, the Sabres’ Bowen Byram and the Mammoth’s Jack McBain, but both have been settled.

As for the seven players above, they can continue talks with their clubs on a new deal until the hearing begins. After that, they’re bound to the arbitrator’s decision.

Players who reach an arbitration hearing are only eligible to sign a one or two-year contract. Since the player filed for arbitration in all seven cases above, the team gets to choose the contract length after receiving the arbitrator’s decision on the AAV. However, only Robertson, Soderblom, and Struble would be eligible for two-year contracts. Everyone else is one year away from being eligible for unrestricted free agency status, so they can’t receive a multi-year arbitration award.

If the arbitration award exceeds $4.85MM in any case, the team can decline it and allow the player to become an unrestricted free agent.

Eleven Players Elect Salary Arbitration

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Eleven players across the NHL have elected for salary arbitration, per the NHLPA.

Those names include:

The deadline for second club-elected arbitration is Sunday at 5 p.m., with arbitration hearings scheduled from July 20 to August 4. Two seasons ago, 23 players filed for arbitration, and last summer, that number dropped to 14 — a downward trend that continues this year.

As a reminder, not every player is expected to head to a hearing, as negotiations will continue leading into July 20. However, each player who elects for salary arbitration is now prohibited from negotiating with other teams or signing an offer sheet.

Canadiens’ Kaiden Guhle Out Indefinitely With Quadricep Laceration

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1:12 p.m.: Guhle sustained a lacerated quadricep muscle that was surgically repaired overnight, the team announced. He’s been released from the hospital but will be out indefinitely.

10:09 a.m.: In a corresponding move, defenseman Jayden Struble has been reinstated from his conditioning loan to AHL Laval. The 23-year-old lefty was held without a point and took two minor penalties with a plus-one rating in a pair of contests for the minor-league club.

8:10 a.m.: The Montreal Canadiens announced that defenseman Kaiden Guhle has suffered a lower-body injury and will need further evaluation. Guhle sustained the injury in the third period of last night’s 4-1 loss to Winnipeg when he fell into the corner awkwardly. He appeared to catch an edge on the play as he was trying to pinch in from the blue line, his right leg fell behind him and jammed into the boards, suffering the full weight of the impact. Guhle required assistance to get to the dressing room and did not appear to bear any weight on his right leg.

The 16th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft is in his third NHL season and has become a huge piece of Montreal’s back end, averaging over 21 minutes a night of ice team and seeing the third most deployment at even strength on the team. Guhle has also been tasked with taking on some of the most difficult minutes in Montreal, starting nearly 60% of his shifts in the defensive zone and taking on the toughest assignments.

Montreal does have some good young defensemen in the AHL right now, however, none will be able to make the jump up from Laval and handle the duties that Guhle has been taking on.

Montreal is in the thick of the Eastern Conference’s race for the Wild Card spots, and losing Guhle for an extended period would be a big blow to their playoff hopes. However, there is a break in February for the Four Nations Face-Off, which could allow Guhle some recovery time, should he need it.

Montreal could also look outside the organization for help as they have 12 draft picks in this year’s draft and will have almost $6.5MM in cap space to work with at the NHL Trade Deadline.

Canadiens Assign Jayden Struble To AHL On Conditioning Loan

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The Canadiens assigned defenseman Jayden Struble to AHL Laval on a conditioning assignment Friday, the team announced. He will remain on the active roster while suiting up in the minors but will need to be reinstated after two weeks. Otherwise, he’ll need to be waived to continue playing in the minors.

Struble, 23, was scratched for the seventh straight game in last night’s loss to the Red Wings. He’s only played four times since Dec. 12 and has been subject to 15 healthy scratches during that span.

The 2019 second-rounder has firmly slipped behind Arber Xhekaj on the team’s left defense depth chart for now. There hasn’t been much appetite for head coach Martin St. Louis to make lineup changes amid a 13-4-1 surge since mid-December that has Montreal in the thick of a highly competitive Eastern Conference wild-card race.

Still in his development stage but no longer waiver-exempt, the Habs thus need to take advantage of a conditioning stint to get Struble some regular playing time. The Rhode Island native has been decently effective when given a chance this season, posting five points through 26 games while leading Montreal defenders with a 51.9 CF% at even strength, albeit in limited minutes (14:16 ATOI).

Controlling shot quantity hasn’t meant controlling shot quality for Struble this year, however. He’s posted a minus-seven rating and has been on the ice for just 1.7 GF/60 at even strength compared to 3.1 GA/60. He has been decently effective on the penalty kill, though, where he averages around a minute per game.

Still, by most definitions, this season has been a step back for the physically involved Struble. He earned a midseason promotion from Laval last season to make his NHL debut and ended up skating in 56 big-league contests, recording 10 points, a minus-three rating, and 57 PIMs. He finished fifth on the team with 121 hits and averaged 16:07 per game, so his minutes have been reduced by nearly two minutes this season.

The Canadiens only have seven defensemen on the active roster, including Struble. Therefore, expect them to use their open roster spot to recall a temporary replacement from Laval in the coming days. Struble had seven points and a plus-five rating in 13 appearances with the minor-league club last season.

Atlantic Notes: Nylander, Peterka, Struble

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The Maple Leafs may not be without William Nylander for any game action. After missing practice Tuesday with an illness, the star winger is feeling better and will be a game-time decision tonight against the Kings, head coach Craig Berube told reporters, including David Alter of The Hockey News. He’s the second top-six forward affected by something going around the Toronto room. It caused center John Tavares to miss their 4-2 win over the Penguins last weekend, in which Nylander had his first two points of the season – both goals. The 28-year-old is in the first season of the eight-year, $92MM extension he inked midway through last season.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • The Sabres will have John-Jason Peterka available for tonight’s game against the Penguins after he missed their last two games with a concussion, head coach Lindy Ruff said. He sustained the concussion on a hit from Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon in the second game of their Global Series set at the beginning of the month. The 22-year-old had an assist and a -2 rating in the season opener and projects to re-enter the lineup in a first-line role alongside Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch.
  • Canadiens defenseman Jayden Struble has been cleared to return from his upper-body injury, per head coach Martin St. Louis (via TVA’s Renaud Lavoie). The 23-year-old has yet to play this year after sustaining the injury late in preseason. He’ll look to lock down a more consistent bottom-pairing role this season after making his NHL debut last year and posting 10 points and a -3 rating in 56 games while averaging just north of 16 minutes per night. It’s unclear whether he’ll play tomorrow against the Kings or sit as a healthy scratch, though.

Atlantic Notes: Laine, Xhekaj, Struble, Guentzel, Nosek

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The Montreal Canadiens have already been busy today with their long-term injured reserve, adding forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard earlier today. They have added another with PuckPedia reporting the team has added forward Patrik Laine to the LTIR opening up $8.7MM in cap space.

PuckPedia also confirmed that defensemen Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble’s reassignments to the AHL yesterday were merely a paper transaction with both being recalled to the opening night roster. These moves mean the Canadiens will open the season with $6.625MM in cap space and an LTIR pool of $9.717MM without putting goaltender Carey Price’s $10.5MM salary on LTIR.

Despite the callup, Struble will not be in the lineup for the Canadiens’ regular season opener tomorrow night. The organization announced he is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Even when healthy Struble will have difficulty playing as consistently as last season with Montreal carrying Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, and Xhekaj on the left side of their defense.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • Some were speculating in Tampa Bay that new winger Jake Guentzel wouldn’t start the season on time after missing some of the team’s practice on Sunday and all of the team’s practice yesterday. Jon Cooper, head coach of the Lightning, downplayed that speculation earlier sharing that the team expects Guentzel back at practice on Thursday and there’s no doubt in his mind that he will be in their regular season opener on Friday. There are high expectations for Guentzel coming into this season after scoring 30 goals and 77 points in 67 games last year between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes while also signing a brand new seven-year, $63MM contract in Tampa.
  • The Florida Panthers will be without some forward depth at the bottom of their lineup for the next few weeks. Senior digital content manager for the Florida Panthers, Jameson Olive, reported forward Tomas Nosek is still out week-to-week with an upper-body injury and confirmed he would not return by next week. Nosek signed a one-year, $775K contract with the Panthers this offseason and is largely expected to be the 12th or 13th forward for the team in most games.

Canadiens Notes: Reassignments, Offseason Plans, Slafkovsky, Caufield, Gorton

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The Canadiens trimmed their roster significantly today, assigning four players to AHL Laval. Defensemen Justin Barron, Logan Mailloux and Jayden Struble, as well as forward Joshua Roy, are headed down to the minors to finish the 2023-24 season. Laval, with two games remaining, is attempting to clinch a playoff berth in the North Division.

Roy’s reassignment confirms he’s been cleared to return from an upper-body injury that kept him out of the lineup since mid-March. The 2021 fifth-round pick has quickly risen up the professional ranks, posting four goals and nine points in 23 games during his first couple of NHL stints this year. The 20-year-old was among Laval’s most effective per-game producers before being called up to the Habs, impressing in his rookie season with 13 goals and 32 points in 40 games.

Mailloux, selected in the late first round in 2021, made his NHL debut last night against the Red Wings, posting an assist and a +1 rating in 21:14 of ice time. He leads Laval defenders and is third on the team in scoring with 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists) in 70 games, his first in the professional ranks.

Barron and Struble both spent significant time on the NHL roster this season but weren’t exactly full-timers, seeing extended stints in the minors as well. The 22-year-old Barron’s season was a more even split, skating in a career-high 48 NHL games but failing to eclipse last year’s career-high of 15 points. He knocked on the door of playing top-four minutes, averaging 18:38 per game, and posted strong relative possession numbers. While he hasn’t impressed much in Laval with 11 points and a -5 rating in 30 games, his major-league showing was strong enough to keep him in consideration for an opening-night job on next season’s roster.

Like Mailloux and Roy, Struble is in his first full professional season. The 22-year-old has been on the NHL roster exclusively since November, aside from a brief reassignment to Laval on March 8 to make him eligible for minor-league playoff action. He became a bottom-pairing mainstay on the Habs’ blue line, notching 10 points in 56 games with a -3 rating while averaging 16:07 per game. He was similarly strong in limited action with Laval early this season, posting six points and a +4 rating with 29 PIMs in 12 games before heading up to Montreal.

Other updates coming from the Habs’ front office in today’s end-of-season availability:

  • GM Kent Hughes made apparent to reporters today that adding on offense will be his off-season priority. The Fourth Period reports he may leverage the organization’s surplus of young defensemen to get it done rather than gunning for a top-six scoring forward on the free agent market. Eight defensemen on the NHL roster for last night’s game are already under contract for next season, not including Barron and Arber Xhekaj, who are pending RFAs. Hughes also confirmed that he doesn’t intend on taking advantage of the two buyout windows this summer to open up some cap space or part ways with a veteran (via Sportsnet’s Eric Engels). The club will have no buyouts on the books next season, with Karl Alzner’s expiring this summer. A likely candidate would have been center Christian Dvorak, who was limited to nine points in 30 games this season with a pectoral injury and has one season left at a $4.45MM cap hit with an eight-team no-trade list.
  • Sophomore winger Juraj Slafkovsky scored his 20th goal of the season last night, awarding him a $250K performance bonus. That will be applied to next season’s books as a dead cap charge, PuckPedia reports, as Montreal had already exhausted the performance bonus pool awarded to them by Carey Price’s LTIR placement. Slafkovsky also informed reporters today he intends to represent Slovakia at the 2024 World Championship next month.
  • Joining Slafkovsky at the Worlds will be star goal-scorer Cole Caufield, who’s accepted an invitation from Team USA GM Bill Guerin to play at the tournament. Caufield largely fell short of expectations this season, limited to 28 goals in 82 games after sniping 26 in only 46 contests last year. The 2019 first-round pick still finished second on the team in scoring behind Nick Suzuki, however, and has a long runway to rebound with seven years remaining on his contract with a $7.85MM cap hit.
  • Habs executive VP of hockey operations Jeff Gorton was expected to draw some interest for any current or future GM vacancies that may arise this offseason, but he told reporters today, including TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, that he plans on sticking in Montreal. He was hired in November 2021 after the team relieved former GM Marc Bergevin of his duties, serving as interim GM for a few months before appointing Hughes in the role. Before joining the Habs, Gorton was the GM of the Rangers for six seasons and oversaw most of their late-2010s retool.

Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Stenlund, Zub, Struble, Forbort

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Panthers superstar winger Matthew Tkachuk will return to play when Florida faces the Sabres tomorrow, head coach Paul Maurice said (via Jameson Olive of the Panthers’ official site). He’ll be joined by depth center Kevin Stenlund, who, like Tkachuk, missed Saturday’s overtime win over the Capitals.

Tkachuk was absent due to an undisclosed injury sustained during the first period of Thursday’s game against the Hurricanes after a collision with Carolina winger Andrei Svechnikov. Stenlund, meanwhile, was out ill. It was both players’ first time missing a game this season.

The 26-year-old Tkachuk has rebounded from a sluggish start and is right back to where he’s expected to be production-wise. Anchoring a second line with Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe, Tkachuk is up to 20 goals and 65 points in 57 games, two points behind Sam Reinhart for the team lead. He’s on pace to break the 100-point plateau for the third straight season, three times more than All-Star father Keith Tkachuk ever did.

Stenlund has been a nice value pickup for Florida, settling nicely into the team’s fourth-line center spot with a rotating cast of wingers that currently includes enforcers Jonah Gadjovich and Ryan Lomberg. He’s picked up nine goals and 13 points in 57 games, averaging 12:42 per game with a -6 rating.

Other updates from the Atlantic Division:

  • Senators defenseman Artem Zub will likely miss tonight’s game against the Capitals and is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, per TSN 1200 Ottawa. It’s been an injury-plagued campaign for the premier shutdown defenseman, whose pairing with youngster Jake Sanderson has arguably been one of the NHL’s best two-way threats despite Ottawa’s position in the standings, controlling 56.2% of expected goals in nearly 500 minutes together, per MoneyPuck. Zub did not play in Saturday’s win over Vegas. He missed two games with a lower-body injury earlier this month and has sat out of eight other games this year due to an illness and concussion.
  • Canadiens defender Jayden Struble is questionable for tomorrow’s tilt against the Coyotes after what he called a “pinch” in his back during a game last week, Sportsnet’s Eric Engels says. He was a full participant in practice today and will likely re-enter the lineup Thursday against Florida at the latest. The 2019 second-round pick missed Saturday’s loss to the Devils but has otherwise put together a solid rookie season, notching three goals and seven points through 39 games while boasting some of Montreal’s best possession numbers, albeit in limited minutes (15:52 per game).
  • Bruins depth defender Derek Forbort will be scratched against the Kraken tonight after missing a team meeting this morning, head coach Jim Montgomery said (video link). It’s the second time such a disciplinary scratch has happened this season, the first instance being for winger Jake DeBrusk being held out of an October game against the Kings. Forbort has struggled with injuries this year but has been in the lineup for 10 straight games, his second-longest stretch of the season. He has just four assists in 34 games while logging 17:44 per game, however, and his possession numbers and reputation as a solid penalty killer have both dipped. He’ll be a UFA this summer upon completing his three-year, $9MM deal.

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