While Arber Xhekaj still has plenty of improving to do as any everyday defenseman in the NHL, he has improved mightily in recent times and still brings a great impact as a physical threat in today's league. In 2024/25 thus far, he has been in and out of the lineup through the first month of the season, and after he was called out by Head Coach Martin St. Louis, he showed plenty more improvement to his game.
Now, he has been scratched once more, and it appears this may have been the last straw for former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque, who went on a rant after the Canadiens matchup with the Washington Capitals.
It's a great point made by Laraque, as his only strengths at this point are his physicality and his fighting, so if you aren't going to bring him into the lineup for that or let him play and learn through failure and patience, then what is the point? Ultimately, it's unclear how much interest there would be for Xhekaj around the league, but there must be at least one team that has interest in landing him, and if they do, it's time for Montreal to move on.
POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 1 | 279 ANSWERS Longtime NHL enforcer Georges Laraque calls for the Montreal Canadiens to trade Arber Xhekaj Will Arber Xhekaj be traded by the Montreal Canadiens this season? | ||
Yes | 120 | 43 % |
No | 159 | 57 % |
LIST OF POLLS |
G | A | PTS | ||
Artemi Panarin | 2 | - | 2 | |
Jesper Bratt | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Nic Dowd | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Jack Hughes | - | 2 | 2 | |
Vincent Trocheck | - | 2 | 2 | |
Andre Burakovsky | 1 | - | 1 | |
Luke Hughes | 1 | - | 1 | |
Blake Lizotte | 1 | - | 1 | |
Connor McMichael | 1 | - | 1 | |
Timo Meier | 1 | - | 1 | |
Aliaksei Protas | 1 | - | 1 | |
John Tavares | 1 | - | 1 | |
Shane Wright | 1 | - | 1 | |
Brenden Dillon | - | 1 | 1 | |
Pierre-Luc Dubois | - | 1 | 1 | |
Vince Dunn | - | 1 | 1 | |
Cody Glass | - | 1 | 1 | |
Erik Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
Alexis Lafrenière | - | 1 | 1 | |
Matt Roy | - | 1 | 1 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Wild | 25 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 38 | |
Jets | 27 | 19 | 8 | - | 38 | |
Golden Knights | 27 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 37 | |
Capitals | 25 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 36 | |
Devils | 28 | 17 | 9 | 2 | 36 | |
Hurricanes | 26 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 35 | |
Maple Leafs | 25 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 34 | |
Panthers | 27 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 34 | |
Kings | 26 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 33 | |
Stars | 25 | 16 | 9 | - | 32 | |
Conference | Cumulative |