The arrival of Alexandre Carrier changes the situation in Montreal.
After all, on the blue line, the club replaced a right-hander who had no identity on the ice (Justin Barron) with a guy who is less offensive, but much more stable.
And between you and me, Barron's offensive, unfortunately, we no longer really saw it.
If I were Martin St-Louis, tonight, I would keep Lane Hutson with Mike Matheson, I would place Kaiden Guhle with Alexandre Carrier and I would play Arber Xhekaj with David Savard.
Those are six guys, until proven otherwise, who are tough to get out of the lineup.
But you know like I do that the Canadian has seven defensemen in town. Seventh is Jayden Struble – or the guy who lost the most following the Justin Barron trade to Nashville.
Obviously, we see that Struble is better off attaching his hat with a pin since his playing time will melt away like snow in the sun – if there is no injury and nothing changes, of course.
Before, he and Barron alternated. But there? I'm not saying that Arber Xhekaj or that David Savard won't give him his place once in a while, but clearly, Struble is too much.
And the Canadian can't even say to himself that he will send him to Laval since due to the age at which he signed in the NHL and his 78 games of experience in the showhe can no longer avoid the toss. This is what Anthony Desaulniers said this morning on BPM Sports.
For eight games, he just can't go down without being given away for free to other teams. And knowing Kent Hughes, he's not going to place Struble on waivers – with good reason.
The only defenders who can go deep right now are Guhle, Hutson and Xhekaj. It won't happen in all three cases.
This therefore means that the Canadian saw the situation emerging and chose not to send him to Laval, in the last weeks, to maintain his eligibility. He is therefore, until proven otherwise, an NHL player.
I wonder if the CH did it by choice… or because no one deserves a call-up to the Laval blue line.
Right now, Struble, Michael Pezzetta and Cayden Primeau are in the following position: they cannot go to Laval without avoiding waivers, they have deficiencies in their game and they respectively have six best defensemen, twelve best forwards and one best guard in front of them.
I wouldn't be completely surprised if the lineup doesn't change in the last three games before Christmas and Struble, Pezz and Primeau are still too many. To be continued.
In burst
– A national treasure, this Gilbert.
– Oh yes?
– Trading Justin Barron was the right thing to do.
