Montreal Canadiens: Three Most Pleasant Surprises From Habs Training Camp

Arber Xhekaj

The Montreal Canadiens invited Arber Xhekaj to their rookie camp a year ago after he sat out a full year because the OHL was shut down due to Covid. Whoever discovered him deserves a heck of a lot of credit, because he went straight from that rookie camp to the Canadiens main camp and then signed his entry-level contract.

Xhekaj did return to Junior last season for his overaged year and was among the best all-around defencemen in the league. He was traded to the stacked Hamilton Bulldogs midseason and immediately became their most important defenceman on the way to an OHL Championship.

The 6’4″ and 238 pound left defender put up decent offensive production in the OHL, scoring 34 points in 51 games and had an impressive playoff run with 16 points in 18 games. But it isn’t his offence that stands out.

His combination of size and ability to move on the ice makes him a fearsome defender on the ice. He was just punishing Junior players all of last season, but as an overager he kind of should be able to do that.

This training camp proved he is capable of holding his own at the NHL level as well. Not only is he tough and physical enough to handle the rigours of the NHL, but his skating and ability to get the puck from his own zone and into transition showed to be NHL ready as well.

Xhekaj not only showed he has an NHL future, he made a tremendous case to be on the opening night roster, skipping the AHL altogether, just like didn’t bother with the NHL and OHL Draft.