It’s not often that you hear the Montreal Canadiens call the name of an American high-school player during the NHL Draft. They went there in 2019, with the selection of combine standout Jayden Struble in the second round.
Struble’s performances at that prospect evaluation shot him up draft boards. He finished first in five of 18 fitness tests, showing some elite athleticism that made him an interesting project for a team to take on. The Canadiens struck first at 46th overall.
The concern with Struble coming out of the draft was that he was quite raw.