Successful executives will tell you the same thing: in business, decisions can’t be personal.
But for Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes, the line between the two could be about to blur.
As preseason games roll on and roster cuts take shape, the Canadiens find themselves in an enviable spot. While half the league is scrambling to find reliable defensemen, Montreal is trying to figure out what to do with too many of them — particularly on the left side. That kind of surplus doesn’t last forever, and it’s the kind of logjam that usually ends with a trade.
“I think the Canadiens have to trade one of Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble or Adam Engstrom within the next year or so,” Marco D’Amico of RG Media said on “The Shaun Starr Show.”
Starr floated Struble as the likeliest candidate to go. “I know that there is appreciation for Jayden Struble across the league,” D’Amico added.
And he’s right — there is. But none of it compares to the appreciation Hughes himself has for Struble. To him, this wouldn’t just be moving a prospect. This would be moving family.
Montreal Defenseman Jayden Struble Has Close Relationship With Hughes Family
Struble isn’t just another name on the Canadiens’ depth chart. He grew up alongside Hughes’s sons Riley and Jack, playing with them on the Boston Jr. Eagles and later at St. Sebastian’s prep. Struble and Jack Hughes even spent four years as college roommates at Northeastern, while Hughes the elder served as Struble’s player advisor before stepping into the GM role.
That’s why the possibility of a Struble trade hits differently. It’s business, yes. But for Hughes, it’s also personal.
“He’s been huge for me, especially when I was younger,” Struble once said of Hughes.
And that’s the dilemma. The Canadiens might have to move from a position of strength. But if the solution means trading a defenseman who’s practically a third son, Hughes will be facing the toughest kind of NHL decision — the one that cuts close to home.
Although, as D’Amico pointed out, Hughes would likely see it more as a chance to put Struble in a better position to find NHL minutes.
Jayden Struble’s Best NHL Opportunity May Lie With Another Team
With Montreal, Struble is currently sitting on the depth chart below Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, and Mike Matheson, and noting that Xhekaj was named an alternate captain for the preseason game against Toronto on Saturday, D’Amico said it appears the Canadiens have “re-upped their relationship” with another prospect that is battling with Struble for time and attention.
“I think the way that Kent Hughes would see it is, ‘I want to give this young man the best opportunity to get an NHL career, and if we have too much going on in Montreal, perhaps it’s best elsewhere,’” D’Amico suggested.
“There are teams in the NHL right now that are looking for defense. This draft coming up, 2026, is loaded with defenseman, but … the grand majority are probably going to be two to three years away. And some of these teams are going to want to influx young talent. And that’s where a younger player like Jayden Struble could make sense.”
Despite the personal ties.
“I think it’s going to be a gut-wrenching decision for Kent Hughes,” D’Amico said.