If you watched Jayden Struble as a youngster with the Boston Junior Eagles and South Shore Kings, in prep school at Noble & Greenough and St. Sebastian's and in college at Northeastern, you know that he's always had exceptional tools.
When he signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens last spring it wasn't difficult to envision him earning an NHL opportunity after a year or two in the American Hockey League. That's not an unexpected path for a player drafted in the second round, as Struble was after his final prep season at St. Seb's in 2019.
Fast-forward to the week of Thanksgiving, when the Habs ran into injuries on defense. The 22-year-old Struble (Cumberland, R.I.) got the call from Montreal’s farm club in Laval, stepped into the NHL lineup and has played dependably on the third pairing ever since.
His quick rise to the NHL has been a surprise even to those who are rooting hardest for him — his family and the general manager of the Canadiens, Kent Hughes.
"We thought, 'OK, he needs a solid two to three years in the AHL to be where he needs to be to have a chance,'" said Tara Slack, Struble’s mother.
Eric Slack, Struble's stepfather, agreed: "I think we all thought, 'You sign for two years and he probably needs all of that or at least a full year (to reach the NHL).'"
Hughes goes way back with Struble. As a coach in the Junior Eagles organization, he watched the young defenseman play a lot and was his family adviser before taking the Montreal job in January 2022. He didn’t expect Struble to come this far in such a short time.
"I think we all knew the potential was there," Hughes said. "I think in Jayden's case it was getting some direction in terms of how to take that athleticism and that potential and make himself the best defenseman that he could be at the NHL level. Some of that is just identifying what your game is and trying to, I don't want to say limit your game in other ways, but really make sure that your focus is on the areas of the game that you need to have it on in order to be successful.
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"I know our player development guys have worked with him a lot, too, (director of player development) Adam Nicholas specifically, in his time in Laval about little things that he needed to adjust or change in his game. I'll tell you, he's adjusted very quickly, a lot quicker than we would have anticipated."
Struble played before a full house in the Beanpot more than once, as well as in the Little League World Series, where he was a slugging first baseman, so he's not unfamiliar with the big stage. Obviously, the NHL is on a much higher level. But Struble's poise and composure have stood out since his first NHL game.
"'Strubes,' he's one of the kids that doesn’t really get fazed by much," said Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe. "All of a sudden he's playing in the NHL. I talked to him the night before (his first game) and he wasn’t rattled or anything like that. 'I’m going to go out and play my game,' and that’s what he did.
"Sometimes it's actually a little bit easier when you go to the next level because you don’t have to try to do too much. You keep your game simple, defend and move the puck. And that's what he's doing."
Playing with a hard edge has always been a part of Struble's game, and it has picked up as he's settled in with the Canadiens.
"It happened in college, too. As he became more comfortable, the physicality came out more. That's a big part for him," said Eric Slack, a former captain at Quinnipiac.
Struble, who is 6 feet and a very solid 202 pounds, had his first NHL fight in Chicago on Dec. 23 and handled himself well against 6-foot-3 MacKenzie Entwhistle.
Keefe admired Struble's physical side in his four years at Northeastern.
"He's a tough kid, no question about that. It was always nice having him walk off the bus. Guys on our team felt a lot bigger knowing Strubes is next to them, that’s for sure," Keefe said.
Big games bring out the best in Struble, both Keefe and Hughes said.
Struble was a standout in last year's Beanpot championship game, defending stoutly and making a perfect goal-mouth pass to fellow Rhode Islander Gunnarwolfe Fontaine (East Greenwich, R.I.) for a third-period goal as the Huskies took home the title.
"He was really good that game. He obviously doesn't get fazed by that stuff," said Keefe.
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Hughes, too, has noticed that trait in Struble.
"When it was a big game, he really had the capability to elevate. You'd see it, he'd take a game over at certain points, at the U-14, U-16 levels. He's showing it now. These are big moments for him, and the challenge is how do you do it when it becomes routine. How do you do it when you play 82 games?"
The maturity and growth that were part of his four-year college experience are paying off.
"It's funny sometimes. He's 22 years old but you still think of him as a kid. He has definitely, in general, matured. He's no longer in school and he's thinking of this as a career," Tara Slack said.
"He just has a different mindset now. He feels good, he's healthy and stronger because he feels good. At Northeastern he had the injury bug over the course of the four years — this bothering him and that bothering him. His nutrition is different, the way he hydrates. The little things, he's really taking advantage of the support that he has, the (Canadiens) staff giving him all of those suggestions, and he's putting it to good use."
Struble received a taste of pro hockey at the end of last season as he played nine AHL regular-season and two playoff games in Laval after turning pro. After attending development camp, he stayed on in Montreal. That turned out to be an important step.
"He lived up there for pretty much the whole summer. He took advantage of being able to work with the Canadiens staff — trainers and coaches. I think that has really been beneficial. He wanted to get to know everybody and show them that he was putting in the work," said Tara Slack.
It was time well spent.
"He's always been a pretty good skater, but it seems like it's gotten even stronger. And a lot of that is the summer stuff," said Eric Slack.
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His mother says hockey always has been No. 1 for Jayden. "I remember when he started to walk, he had a knee-hockey stick in his hand. He's a kid who never loved toys. It was always hockey."
His maternal grandfather, Paul Struble, a veteran youth coach, has been a huge influence since Jayden's earliest days on the ice.
You definitely get the feeling that Tara Slack will be telling the story of the events leading up to her son's first NHL game for a long time — and rightly so.
"That whole week is kind of a blur. He called me on Sunday, before Thanksgiving. It was probably a 20-second phone call. 'Mom, I got called up. I gotta go.' I was home alone. My husband was with the twins (Cameron and Dylan, who play for the 2009 Providence Hockey Club) at a game in New Hampshire. I hung up the phone and I was like, 'What just happened?'" she said.
Montreal was headed to California for games in Anaheim, San Jose and Los Angeles. It wasn't a lock that Jayden would be in the lineup.
'I think it was Monday night, probably 9 p.m., he called and was like, 'Mom, I’m playing on Wednesday.' Again, the boys were at practice with my husband. I’m like, 'Who can I tell?'"
The Slacks weren't about to miss Jayden's NHL debut.
"We booked a flight Tuesday morning. We called to get the boys out of school at noon and we were off. It was kind of a whirlwind. Everything happened so fast and I’m a planner. It was hard for me. But it was worth it, all day long," Tara said.
Watching her son in the NHL is something that she is still getting used to.
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"Sometimes it hits you. I think it was the Pittsburgh game, it’s like, 'Oh my gosh, he’s playing against Sidney Crosby. Sometimes it's just so bizarre to think it's really happening," Tara said of the Dec. 13 game against Pittsburgh during which her son scored his second goal of the year.
It's been said many times that as hard as it is to get to the NHL, it’s harder to stay there. That's the challenge for Struble now.
"I really couldn't be prouder of what he's done in a short amount of time," his mother said. "He's trying every shift to prove that he belongs. He knows that as quickly as he was called up, he can be sent back down."
