The Montreal Canadiens have trade options on the market, but defenseman Arber Xhekaj is not one of them. Not yet, anyway.
NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens Not Willing To Part With Arber Xhekaj
As NHLRumors.com writes, Xhekaj is still developing as a defenseman. He plays with an edge that sometimes gets him into trouble with the referee. Being naturally tall is good, but he needs to improve his whole game defensively.
Nothing is guaranteed in the NHL, even with the new two-year contract he signed this past offseason. But that hasn’t stopped rumors from swirling about this potential trade.
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Parties interested in Arber Xhekaj
Former Montreal Canadiens guard Georges Laraque told French-Canadian radio that teams are interested in Xhekaj, and the Canadiens should take advantage of his good trade value.
“There are teams that want him and, if they could get him out of Montreal, they would be willing to play him regularly in their lineup,” said Laraque. “If they don’t play him every game, what’s the point of keeping him? Many teams want him, and he has a good trade value. Pull the bullet.”
Look, there’s a defensive logjam in Montreal. The Canadiens have Xhekaj, Kaiden Guhle, Lane Hutson, David Savard, Mike Matheson, Jayden Struble, and Justin Barron, not to mention Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher, who ended up injured, improving in the system.
And, as TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger told TSN Radio in Montreal on Friday, there will be interest in the young player from teams around the league.
“I’ll tell you this: if Kent Hughes ever decides to put Arber Xhekaj on the trade floor, there will be double-digit teams interested in Arber Xhekaj and not just teams with a clear need for 5, 6, 7th. defensemen,” said Dreger.
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Would It Be Wise To Sell Xhekaj, And What Would Be The Return?
However, would it be the smartest decisions to trade a defenseman like Arber Xhekaj and reduce the powerhouse for the Montreal Canadiens?
Season Four’s Dennis Bernstein was on TSN Radio in Montreal on Friday. He doesn’t think so, although there will be interest. As he says, what will be the return for such a boy?
“Yeah, he’s young, he’s affordable, he’s got size, he’s mean, there’s not much going on in this league. So I totally agree with it. But what is the game of 11? “We’re talking about trading guys after you trade guys in the offseason to get the deals you have,” Bernstein said. “You have to find out, okay, maybe you want to find out what your top seven is, and I get it, it’s going to be interesting. But what is the return to return? What will it be? That guy’s average pick? So what’s the point?
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I don’t think it’s worth sending the guy back unless you say for sure, okay, he’s not part of our context. He is not part of the seven of us, and he is not part of our future. I don’t know, you got him on a $1.3 million deal this year and next year, then he’s banned after that, and he’s 23 years old. I wouldn’t leave the guy, because you don’t really have that kind of protector, like there. You need one of those guys.”
You see firsthand the teams around the league when there is an injury they don’t have depth and players to fill in if a player goes down. There is a cautionary tale to follow, as we see in Los Angeles.
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“So I don’t see letting go of this guy, because he’s already made changes on the blue line and I can see that he’ll trade another defenseman for this team,” continued Bernstein. “And I saw you in Los Angeles. They had depth on the right side, then they traded on the right side of the linebacker, and now they don’t have depth with Drew Doughty going down with an injury, so I would really notice that, because he is. he’s still young, and I’m just asking, yes, you can trade him, but what will you get in return? Will it really improve the organization?”
Arber Xhekaj returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ lineup in a 3-1 loss to the Canadiens. It will be about matchups and usage, but it’s too early to give up on a player.
However, Montreal’s best option right now is to keep Xhekaj unless GM Kent Hughes can rule out a return.
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