Montreal Canadiens: Jordan Harris, Jayden Struble Face Tough Test To Extend Season

Montreal Canadiens prospects Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble, who both play for the Northeastern Huskies in the NCAA, are facing a tough test today.

The Huskies qualified for the Hockey East postseason, but their 9-8-3 record was only good enough to rank 6th in the conference.

That means they will face the 3rd ranked team in Hockey East in the quarterfinals and that is the University of Massachusetts. U.Mass had a record of 13-5-4 in the regular season and will be a difficult opponent for Northeastern.

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With the Hockey East playoffs being single game elimination this year, thanks to covid, this could be the last game of the season for the Huskies. The winner of today’s game will advance to the semifinals on Wednesday night and the winners on Wednesday will move on to the Hockey East final next Saturday.

If the Huskies are going to go on a deep run, they are going to need big performance from the two Canadiens prospects in the lineup.

Harris has been their number one defenceman this season, playing all situations and taking on heavy minutes against the opposition’s best players. The Habs third round pick in 2018. Harris finished third on the Huskies in points with 19 in 18 games. He took a big step forward offensively this season, after scoring 21 points in 33 games a year ago.

This is his third season at Northeastern, and it is very likely that Harris will turn pro at season’s end and play with the Laval Rocket this season. If the Huskies lose today, Harris could sign an entry-level contract as early as tonight if he wants to do so.

Struble was solid this season as well, playing a second pairing role for the Huskies. He also played on the second power play unit, behind Harris who ran the top unit, and was a big part of the team’s penalty kill.

Struble was a second round pick in 2019 and scored 11 points in 17 games. This is Struble’s second season with the Huskies and he was on the exact same pace as Harris was during his second college season.

Struble missed a few games with injury last season and the team’s shortened schedule this year means he has only played a total of 38 games in two years of college hockey. It’s much less likely that he signs a pro contract after his season, as an actual full year of games would be great for his development next season.

Northeastern will face Massachusetts this evening at 4:30 PM EST. If Northeastern wins, they move on to the semifinals. If not, their season is done. It is win or go home time. Or, I suppose, in the case of Habs prospect Jordan Harris, it is win or go to Laval time.