Montreal Canadiens: Jordan Harris, Jayden Struble Start Season Strong

The Montreal Canadiens leaned on a veteran group of defencemen to help them reach the Stanley Cup Final just a few months ago.

Ben Chiarot, Shea Weber, Jeff Petry and Joel Edmundson carried the team’s defence as the top four, while the third pairing guys did not play much of a role. Their experience definitely made a difference as the team battled adversity early on, falling behind the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 but not giving in.

It might not be long before the Canadiens defence is a much younger, more exuberant group.

None of Kaiden Guhle, Mattias Norlinder, Gianni Fairbrother, Jordan Harris or Jayden Struble are likely to make the NHL roster this season. Guhle might get a few games to begin the year, but chances are all five of those young defenders will remain in the prospect pool this season. After that, every one of them will be knocking on the door for ice time at the top level.

Two of them started their 2021-22 season over the weekend and they both impressed in their first action of the year.

Jordan Harris returned to Northeastern for his Senior year this season and he will be relied upon heavily. He played on the top pairing, the first power play unit and the team’s top penalty killing unit as well. Harris didn’t register any points, but he played a ton of minutes, had five shots on goal and was great at both ends of the ice.

His teammate, Jayden Struble, plays a more physical style, but can really skate as well and has an underrated offensive component to his game. His defensive awareness and monster strength were on display, as always, and Struble also put up three points in Northeastern’s season opener.

Struble set up the third goal of the game on the power play with a nice cross-ice feed. He drew a second assist on the team’s second goal and then sealed the deal with a 190 foot empty net goal while shorthanded.

It was just the first game of the season, and Northeastern played Bentley who aren’t exactly a NCAA Championship contender this season. However, it was good to see Harris and Struble get off to a strong start to their season.