Montreal Canadiens: Arber Xhekaj will be future physical presence

The Montreal Canadiens should be happy with what Arber Xhekaj is bringing to the table as he works towards cracking the NHL roster. The defender played four years in the Ontario Hockey League(OHL) before signing with the Habs last October.

He played three years with the Kitchener Rangers and one with the Hamilton Bulldogs before spending the 2021-22 season with Laval Rocket. He has not logged time with the Montreal Canadiens to make his NHL debut, but he is showing what he can bring to the table when that time comes.

Xhekaj is a 6-foot-4, 219-pound defenceman with a left-handed shot, per the league website. He’s physical, playing with an on-ice presence that will get under the opposition’s skin. During the Habs’ recent game against the Ottawa Senators during the 2022 Prospect Challenge, his style of play ended up getting him into a scrap with one of the Senators’ players.

They were not too fond of his actions earlier in the game after he caused an injury with a hit sending a Senators player into the boards. In the linked article, the Senators stated there was not much respect for Xhekaj in the opposing locker room because of the hit that spawned the bout that Xhekaj skated away from victorious as well.

I watched this clip several times, and it was impeccable how Xhekaj lands that final blow and just drops Zachary Massicotte to the ground skating away victorious. What a finish. But Xhekaj has this physical and aggressive style of play that is going to bother the opposition.

He’s a big-bodied defender and is not afraid to throw the body around, play physical, and use this size & strength to knock the opposition off the puck. It’s a great set of traits to have, and the Canadiens should be excited about his future with this team.

Montreal Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj has desirable traits.

While the fight leads to a five-minute major, and Xhekaj already had landed himself in the box for a boarding hit as well. So while there are desirable traits to what Xhekaj does, he still needs to clean things up in Laval before he gets the chance to show his stuff with the Habs.

Bein physical and aggressive but keeping it within bounds will be essential for him to be effective in the NHL. He has to be able to keep himself out of the box and still play physical, having an edge to his game. The occasional penalty is understandable, but funneling himself to the box would become a problem for the Habs in the long term.

But for Xhekaj, he’s leaving a lot to like with his performance as a physical defender who can be intimidating to the opposition. On top of that, he’s not entirely stunted with his offense; Xhekaj still finds ways to get the job done.

The hope is that Xhekaj can continue to play in the bottom two pairings for the Canadiens one day. In 2022-23, with the team’s defence core being weak, there’s a chance he gets a call-up to see what he can bring to the table at some point.

The tweet above showcases his slap shot on one-timers being fed across from just inside the top of the circle. For Xhekaj, he may be able to provide offense here and there with that type of booming shot from the point.

During his time in the OHL, he found the back of the net here and there, with assists as well. Xhekaj will live in the defensive zone, with his goal being to play physical and keep the opposition at bay, but he may still luck into some offense on occasion.

Do not get it twisted, he’s not going to go out and find the back of the net a ton, but if he finds himself in the offensive zone with the puck, he may be able to find the open man or put a hard shot on net and create a rebound.

The future as a bottom-pairing defenceman with a physical presence seems very realistic for Arber Xhekaj. He may get a chance to show this with the Habs in 2022-23.