Predators Acquire Jayden Struble

According to a team announcement, the Nashville Predators acquired defenseman Jayden Struble from the Montreal Canadiens for Vegas’ 2027 second-round pick. The Canadiens have also announced the deal

Struble, 25, joins his second organization of his career. Montreal selected Struble with the 46th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft from St. Sebastian’s School in Massachusetts. He began his collegiate career the following year at Northeastern University.

He had a relatively successful tenure with the Huskies. Playing in all four years, Struble finished his collegiate career with nine goals and 48 points in 104 games with a +19 rating. He joined the AHL’s Laval Rocket near the end of the 2022-23 season.

After four years in the NCAA, Struble was nearly NHL-ready to start his professional career. In his four years of professional hockey, Struble has played only 24 AHL games, scoring one goal and eight points with a +9 rating. Other than those handful of contests, Struble has spent most of his career in Montreal.

Since the beginning of the 2023-24 season, Struble has scored seven goals and 35 points in 174 games with a +3 rating, averaging 14:58 of ice time per game. He’s also recorded 142 blocked shots and delivered 364 hits in that stretch. Still, he’s managed a rather pedestrian 48.9% CorsiFor and 90.9% on-ice SV% at even strength.

Although Struble has been a relatively average blue liner with the Canadiens, the trade is somewhat surprising. Despite his low offensive production, Struble spent a lot of time playing with Lane Hutson over the previous two seasons. During the 2024-25 season, the two played in 322.6 minutes together, and 473.7 minutes last year. Still, Montreal is obviously comfortable moving forward with their current duo of Hutson and Noah Dobson.

In Nashville, Struble will take William Trudeau’s spot in the lineup, as Trudeau was placed on injured reserve earlier today. Once eligible for activation, Nashville may reassign Trudeau and keep Struble in their bottom pairing for the foreseeable future.

For Montreal, they’ll add a second-round pick to their cupboard for a scarcely used defenseman to begin the season. The second-round pick was originally a conditional third-round selection when the Predators acquired it in 2025 as part of the Nicolas Hague trade. Since the Golden Knights reached the Western Conference Final last season, that pick was upgraded to a second-round selection.