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In Hainsight: I Didn't Expect that |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Juraj Slafkovsky and Kaiden Guhle were the names people were most excited about when training camp kicked off in September, but quickly, someone else came to the forefront. Straight from the get-go, Arber Xhekaj turned heads and capture the heart of many Canadiens fans. As you probably all know by now, Xhekaj was never drafted but he was invited to the Canadiens’ development camp in 2021 and made an immediate impression on then GM Marc Bergevin. Two years later, there’s no denying that signing to rugged blue liner to a 3-year deal was a shrewd move.
Not only can Xhekaj play and hold his own in the NHL but he brings something that has been lacking for quite some time in the Canadiens’ line-up, an intimidating presence that keeps the opposing players in line. Slafkovsky said it himself on Knuckles Nilan’s podcast, when Xhekaj is in the line-up his teammates feel like there’ll always be someone to step up for them.
To be fair, I’m not a big fan of fights in hockey, but somehow, in what was a hard season with some lackluster games to watch, I came to enjoy the show Xhekaj put on and I wasn’t the only one. Whenever I was at the Bell Centre and he dropped the gloves, the building was absolutely rocking. He caught people’s attention with a couple of fights against the Sens in the preseason, but he really made his name tussling with some renowned heavyweights (Kassian, Deslauriers) when the season started and immediately became a fan favorite.
Xhekaj brings more to the table than just fights though, he doesn’t have a booming slapshot from the blue line like Shea Weber, but he’s got a knack for finding an open lane and getting the puck to the net to create chances for his teammate. Who would have thought that the 22-year-old would eventually find himself a spot on the power play? Not this writer, and yet it happened. I know, on a contender, it doesn’t happen but it’s still a great demonstration of how useful a player he can be.
In the end, Xhekaj only played 51 games in his rookie season thanks to a shoulder injury, but he still managed to rack-up 13 points (5 goals and 8 assists) to go along with his team leading 101 penalty minutes. Whenever the team is auctioning game-used items or warm-up used jerseys, Xhekaj are amongst those raising top dollar, the Montreal market has really taken to him which also show in the hobby circles. Wifi’s Young Guns rookie card is currently valued at $40 while Kaiden Guhle’s sits at $30. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense from a pure talent standpoint, but the Montreal public is absolutely smitten with Xhekaj and I didn’t see that coming either.
As this rebuild moves forward, the Habs are bound to have to move some pieces on the blue line, there are just too many bodies there, but I sure hope the Canadiens’ brass elects to keep the rugged defenseman around given what he brings to the table. Jeff Gorton has said time and time again that his team needs to get bigger, well, with Xhekaj around, everyone feels and plays bigger which is always a good thing.
If you thought the title was about the Leafs finally managing to win a playoffs series, think again, I saw that one coming and had called Leafs in 6 in my prediction blog. If they do manage to be victorious in the second round though, I’ll be surprised then…unless of course the Bruins somehow manage to lose to the Panthers tonight, but that’s another story altogether...
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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