Where does Arber Xhekaj Fit in with the Montreal Canadiens?
Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff joined TSN Radio in Montreal and was asked when the Montreal Canadiens will announce an Arber Xhekaj signing, or if they are still looking for trade partners.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Host: “So, continuing with the Habs now, where does Arber Xhekaj fit in, and when do they get him signed? If they get him signed? Now I want to say this. I went on record last week saying I believe the organization has a deal with him. They just haven’t signed it, and they’ll announce it like the day before trading camp or not; I think this is their, like, poker play, seeing if they get any feels from other teams. Is that a possibility?”
Anthony Di Marco: “I think it’s for sure a possibility, and in Xhekaj’s case as to where he fits with the lineup. Like, I mean, he’s not, like, I just don’t see him long for Montreal because he is a big physical defenseman. And then we heard that maybe they were after a big physical defenseman, but a defenseman who maybe has more skill with the puck could do more things with it. Is maybe a bit better defensively.
Will the Montreal Canadiens Re-sign or Trade Arber Xhekaj?
And you saw how little (Jayden) Struble played in the playoffs, but more times than not, he was comfortably ahead of Xhekaj on the depth chart. And then, if Reinbacher makes the team, that theoretically pushes Struble down to seventh and Xhekaj down to eighth.
So I mean, I do think that there are a lot of teams that are interested in him. We’ve heard Philadelphia quite a bit. I spoke to someone in Calgary about two weeks ago, and he told me that they did have interest and may not have anymore after the acquisition of Jacob Middleton.
But I think he’s a guy that a lot of, quote hockey men, will always love because he’s a rough-and-tumble throwback type of defenseman. As for where he sits in Montreal long-term, I’m just not sure, and that may be directly correlated to what happens with David Reinbacher.”
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