The Montreal Canadiens clearly have a logjam on defense. More specifically, they have an incredible number of options to play the left side on the blue line and not enough space for all of them.
Right now they have Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble at the NHL level as left shot defenders. In the system they have top prospect Lane Hutson and further down the pipeline are Adam Engstrom and William Trudeau.
Oh yeah, and Arber Xhekaj is playing in the minors for the Laval Rocket as well, The hulking defender is improving the finer points of his defensive game and is finding the scoresheet as well as he has 11 points in 17 games. He does have some NHL experience, but those are impressive numbers for a 22 year old defenseman.
Especially one known for his big hits, fighting ability and toughness in his own zone. His intriguing combination of offense, defense and ability to strike fear into the opposition has other teams calling about his availability.
Hey, he is in the minors after playing a full year with the Canadiens in 2022-23 so you can't blame them. But, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, one of the top reporters in the game of hockey, the Canadiens are quickly slamming the phone down when teams call about Xhekaj.
Friedman reported on Hockey Night In Canada's Headlines segment on Saturday night that a number of teams have called to check on Xhekaj since he has now been in the minors since early December but the response each team has received so far has been a flat no.
So, while the Canadiens have been allowing Xhekaj to simmer in the minors for a while, there should be no question he will be staying with the organization going forward. The Canadiens will eventually have some tough decisions to make on the blue line, but moving Xhekaj is not happening any time soon.