Confirmed with Link: Arber Xhekaj Signed 2 years @ 1.3 AAV

[OldCraig71]

He will likely have Flojack as a tag team partner as early as next season.
I'm fairly convinced his progression will be along the same lines as Arber.
Not to mention it's a heck of a lot easier to graduate as a forward at his age.
Particularly given how soft our bottom is... pun intended.

Florian may need several years in the minors before he is NHL ready but he may get a game here and there as part of his development to help him see how fast the NHL game is. I don't think there will be any rush with him. We will likely add veteran toughness via trade or FA.

 

[JT3]

I think some are reading too much into the extension, I don't think it necessarily says anything about how management view the player long term. It's simply a prove it deal, I believe management rate him highly and see him as a piece long term but the full results are not quite there yet.

The biggest thing he needs to work on is his decision making defensively. While he is a strong skater he sometimes was beaten due to slow reactions. It seems he's slimmed down a bit this summer so hopefully that may help some but it will hopefully also just improve with more experience and time which this contract allows for.

As others have mentioned it takes time for D, especially bigger D like him to adapt to the pace. Xhekaj is one that I think we need to just let cook over the next 3 to even 5 years that I'm certain will pay dividends come his mid to late 20s.

 

[rahad]

I have no idea what it means that you claim Arber is starting to become our "Mike Komisarek"

Mike Komisarek has at best a #4 D with us. Yet, we loved him so much, we voted for him to be part of the NHL all star game (2009).

I has responded to the user who believe a GM should offer sheet him at 6m. I do Love Arber and his physical play style in the NHL. But at 6m for a #5-6 defenseman?

I feel like we are overrating Arber a little bit to much here (kinda like what we did with Komisarek).
He is a good player. But, is far from being worth 6m.

 

[RabbleMasterBlaster]

Dude is one more injury away from being a bust amongst so many others like him.

Hopefully he better conditions himself over the summer now that he got paid so he can actually play a full season.

 

[Kimota]

He's had 2 blown shoulders.

2 years, to show us what you got and ensure the blown out shoulders aren't an issue.

How about Ghule's injuries. That did not prevent them into giving him a long contract.

 

[River Meadow]

How about Ghule's injuries. That did not prevent them into giving him a long contract.

Different case though...

Guhle is a former 1st round pick, who has shown when healthy, many things, including offensive tools and vision, that would indicate he has the tools to be a top D-man in the league.