Montreal Canadiens: Jordan Harris Back in Action After Dominating on Opening Weekend

Montreal Canadiens prospect Jordan Harris isn’t the biggest name but he was exceptional last weekend.

Montreal Canadiens management targeted a few specific needs in the past few years. They seem to have cleaned up the middle of the ice by drafting Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jake Evans and Ryan Poehling and trading for Nick Suzuki and Phillip Danault.

Another need they have tried to fill has been on left defence. They spent cap dollars in free agency to add Ben Chiarot and Joel Edmundson but have also drafted several players at the position as well.

While the left defence prospects that get the most attention are undoubtedly Alexander Romanov and Mattias Norlinder, a pair of left shooting blue liners at Northeastern University deserve a lot of attention as well.

Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble proved last weekend to be two key pieces of the Northeastern team. Harris was a third round pick of the Habs in the 2018 NHL Draft and Struble was taken a year later in the second round. Both players were solid members of their Hockey East squad last year but they looked like cornerstone players last weekend.

Harris, in particular, was fantastic as the Huskies won their opening two games. The 20 year old from Haverhill, Massachusetts is a smart, steady defensive presence on the ice. His ability to read the play and make the correct decision in his own zone makes his an efficient defender. He showed in the team’s first two games he is a great offensive weapon as well.

In his first period of the season, Harris had a goal and an assist. He made a brilliant cross-ice pass off the rush that led to the team’s first goal.

Shortly after that, he made no mistake on the power play, firing home a one-timer to give his team a two goal lead.

Harris would add to those totals in the second period, moving laterally across the blue line with ease with the puck on the power play. This eventually led to an opening and he fired a wrist shot through that found the back of the net.

The Huskies would face Merrimack again on Sunday afternoon, and Harris took his spot on the top pairing, the team’s first power play and their penalty kill. Northeastern fell behind 2-0 early, but a tenacious forecheck from Struble led to a turnover and he got the puck out front, leading to the first goal for Northeastern. Some patience with the puck on the power play and a great pass resulted in a tap-in goal to tie the game.

Harris would add a second assist shortly after as he dropped the puck to a teammate on the breakout. It was his least impressive point of the weekend, but if was the blue liner’s 5th points in just two games to begin his season.

This afternoon, Harris and Struble hit the ice once again, to kick off a home and home weekend with Providence. The puck will drop at 1:00 PM EST today and 3:30 PM EST tomorrow.

Harris hasn’t been the most heralded of the Habs prospects, but he made a lot of noise last weekend. If he continues to perform at both ends of the ice like he did last weekend, he will be making noise in the Hobey Baker Award nominations at season’s end.