The Canadiens have traded Jayden Struble to the Nashville Predators, according to TVA Sports insider Renaud Lavoie.
The news broke Friday evening, one day after Nashville beat Montreal 5-2 at the Bell Centre.
Struble didn't dress for that game. Now he joins the team that won it.
Lavoie didn't specify what Montreal got back, and that piece will shape how this one gets judged.
The 25-year-old had dressed for 3 games without a point, sitting at an even rating.
He carried a $1,412,500 cap hit, so this was never about clearing big money.
It's like selling your spare tire the week before a long road trip. Fine, until something goes flat on the highway.
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A breaking trade update has rocked the Canadiens and Predators: Jaden Struble
Without Struble, Montreal has six defensemen who've dressed this season: Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson, Michael Matheson, Alexandre Carrier, Arber Xhekaj and Adam Engstrom.
Thinning the blue line while giving up 4.8 goals a game is a strange call. Unless the return fixes something bigger, it's a hard move to love.
It also means Matheson, sitting at -3 and taking heat from fans, isn't losing his spot to Struble anytime soon.
Just this week, Struble looked like the obvious name to slot in if Martin St-Louis wanted to send Matheson a message.
The crease is already shaky, with Samuel Montembeault out 10 to 14 days.
Nashville gets another option on the back end while William Trudeau sits on the injury list until at least Oct 22.
The Predators are 2-1-1 and visit Ottawa on Saturday.
Roman Josi leads their defense with 5 points, 3 of them power-play assists.
Does Kent Hughes have another move lined up behind this one?
The Canadiens sit 25th in the league at 1-2-1, winless in three straight, so standing still was never much of an option.
Montreal hosts Detroit on Saturday, then Buffalo on Tuesday before a trip to Washington on Wednesday.
Struble gets a fresh start in Nashville. Montreal gets six defensemen and almost no margin if anyone else goes down.
Did Kent Hughes make a mistake trading Jayden Struble right now?
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