Time to expect more of a Subban presence
P.K. known commodity, but brothers Jordan and Malcolm on the verge
TORONTO Jordan Subban wasn’t sure what to think. He thought, for a split second anyway, he was on the receiving end of a practical joke.
It was a Wednesday afternoon in late June. The NHL draft had just wrapped up and the annual free agency window had yet to open. In other words, another day in the off-season.
That is, until he, and the rest of the immediate Subban family, received a text from its most famous member, P.K. Subban.
The 2013 Norris Trophy-winning defenceman gave them the scoop via group chat: The Montreal Canadiens had shipped him to the Nashville Predators in a blockbuster, one-for-one deal. Shea Weber, another high-profile NHL blueliner, was the other piece.
“Everyone was just kind of shocked, including him,” Jordan said Monday at St. Michael’s College School Arena, where the starstudded BioSteel Camp is being housed this week.
The 21-year-old Vancouver Canucks prospect didn’t take it at face value right away. There were no news leaks and, really, the Canadiens were parting ways with P.K., its franchise defenceman?
“Any time something like that happens, at first it’s kind of like, is this a joke?” Jordan, a defenceman himself, said.
The Subbans, including middle brother Malcolm Subban, the top goaltending prospect in the Boston Bruins organization, weren’t alone in feeling confused and shocked.
After all, June 29 was a whirlwind in which the hockey world was tasked with processing not only the Subban-Weber swap but another massive trade (Edmonton’s Taylor Hall for New Jersey’s Adam Larsson) as well as the Tampa Bay Lightning locking up Steven Stamkos long term.
With plenty of time to digest, Malcolm is looking forward to seeing what P.K. can accomplish south of the border.
“When you think of him, you think of Montreal,” Malcolm, 22, said. “That’s where he played (for so long). He’ll be looking to make a new legacy (in Nashville) … It’s good for him to get a new start, I guess. He’s going to a good team, so he’ll have a good chance to win a championship there.”
The 2016-17 season could prove to be a banner year for this elite hockey family from Toronto’s Rexdale area. P.K. is entering his ninth NHL season but first in the freewheeling Western Conference. Firmly No. 3 on the Bruins’ goalie depth chart, Malcolm should see some NHL duty. Also entering a second year of pro, Jordan looks primed be a difference maker on the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets.
The bar has been set high by P.K., with and without skates on. His smooth skating, puck skills and competitive desire is complemented well by a magnetic persona off the ice.
Due to their different roles and a more reserved personality, Malcolm is rarely compared to P.K. Jordan, on the other hand — whom P.K. claimed is “going to be the best of all us” during a 2014 interview with the New Yorker — lines up at the same position, shoots the same way and sports a similar playing style.
“We’re brothers. We’re not the Sedins, we’re not twins,” said Jordan, who is six years younger and roughly four inches shorter than P.K. “He’s doing what he’s doing and he’s doing a great job. I’m happy for him and I want to hopefully get to that level.”
THE END OF THE LINE FOR TORRES?
Raffi Torres hasn’t played an NHL shift since March 8, 2014, and is without a contract for this coming season. This could be the end for him as a pro hockey player.
“It’s kind of up in the air right now,” Torres, a BioSteel Camp regular, said on Monday. “I’ve just been training, pretty much for 4-5 months, getting my body to where I need to be. I’m feeling good. ”A nagging knee injury, coupled with a history of lengthy suspensions for issuing head shots, has left the 6-footer with 835 NHL games of experience on the fringe. “To be honest, I’ve never been one for Plan B’s,” the 35-year-old said when asked about playing overseas or in the minors. “I’ve been telling everybody (who asks about my future), it’s probably going to be The Show or no.”