Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj the Sheriff Returns Edition

[Doctor Bold]

This will be an unpopular post but I feel my day hasn’t been filled with enough animus yes so

Struble is… how to best express it? … Better at hockey than X. Most important, he is trustworthy. He has twice the points in 20 fewer games (yes playing with Lane helps… a LOT). X is a d-corps worst -13 (Struble a -2).
Fighting is zero in the POs - the primary goal of the club will be cup runs, yes? He can blow a guy up but he often chooses his moments poorly. And while the hits are explosive, they aren’t necessarily risk-effective. Guhle hits to separate the player from the puck, not the player from his head which, again, serves the goal of winning hockey games. And, let’s face it, in the coming years we will not be a D group of behemoths. You might say that’s all the more reason to lean on X. But if you don't have wave after wave of punishment as we did in the last cup run, it doesn’t fit with the overall defensive posture. Put another way, I don’t think teams will cough up pucks for fear of being squashed into the boards 12 minutes a game. We will be a d-corps built on speed, quick passes out of the zone in transition, killing plays with sticks and smarts and, frankly, forwards buying into a 5-man d structure.

Yes, he is new-ish to hockey and has room for growth. Maybe he’ll stick around as the 7th d while he hopefully continues to improve. But with talented D coming up from Laval (and let’s not sleep on Bogdan!) I don’t think he has the runway to do it.
I hope I’m wrong.

Ok. Let me have it!

 

[Ozmodiar]

Of course this doesn't mean Arber is done with us, he just needs to keep impoving his skating ability, maybe drop some pounds and continue to work his ass off.

Off-season will be important. Not sure if people realize, but he spent a decent amount of time rehabbing a shoulder injury last off-season.

Also, he really has to learn to excel on the PK, with Savy on the way out.

 

[Deebs]

Off-season will be important. Not sure if people realize, but he spent a decent amount of time rehabbing a shoulder injury last off-season.

Also, he really has to learn to excel on the PK, with Savy on the way out.

Absolutely. His future is being a 3rd pairing, penalty killing machine. That's where he's going to make his career and it could end up being a very long one if he accepts his role and continues to work at it.

 

[dauv]

maybe I am wrong here but if and that's a big IF, there is no room for Arber on D, why not try him as a 4th line winger. Does Arber not want to or Habs not want to?

I just don't understand why they wouldn't at least try it. Any reason why this wouldn't work?

The way I look at it is unless someone overpays or him why not try this....

I could see in 1 or 2 seasons from now a 4th line consisting of Florian-Tuch-Arber as a very punishing 4th line (if the kids continue to develop)

 

[ahmedou]

X's Meet and Greet

 

[Habs]

maybe I am wrong here but if and that's a big IF, there is no room for Arber on D, why not try him as a 4th line winger. Does Arber not want to or Habs not want to?

I just don't understand why they wouldn't at least try it. Any reason why this wouldn't work?

The way I look at it is unless someone overpays or him why not try this....

I could see in 1 or 2 seasons from now a 4th line consisting of Florian-Tuch-Arber as a very punishing 4th line (if the kids continue to develop)

Because he's a Dman, and he had a good year and was the only guy singled out all season. MSL is a putz

 

[JJ68]

Habs just never seem to want to win with bigger tougher players. They keep going smaller and then wear out.

X will be needed and they'll hopefully realize it. Trust me, if Wilson starts acting up in round 1 X will be required. And I dont mean just to fight.

 

[Kimota]

Habs just never seem to want to win with bigger tougher players. They keep going smaller and then wear out.

X will be needed and they'll hopefully realize it. Trust me, if Wilson starts acting up in round 1 X will be required. And I dont mean just to fight.

Tonight was a good example of this. Let's face it, Detroit played physical and it was a good reason why they dominated. They were doing what they wanted in our zone and there no recoup except for Ghule. They need to have that physical presence that Jack provides. Just the intimidation factor he brings by being there.

Not only with the underutilization of Jack but across the board, we need more of a physical mentality. When someone come in our zone, i want people to check their freaking head.

 

[HabsAddict]

Chair'rot would not be acting up if X was in. In other games, I've seen him cower when X skated over. Tonight, he was the tough guy.

This is all on SMarty...

 

[HabzSauce]

Arber's game should shine in the playoffs. Id start him over Struble for at least first two games

 

[Naslund]

Even if Arber starts as the 7th D in the playoffs, he will eventually have his chance. Playoffs are a long drag. There will be injuries. I'm thinking a matchup vs Washington would necessitate having Xhekaj in the lineup to deal with Wilson.

 

[HabzSauce]

maybe I am wrong here but if and that's a big IF, there is no room for Arber on D, why not try him as a 4th line winger. Does Arber not want to or Habs not want to?

I just don't understand why they wouldn't at least try it. Any reason why this wouldn't work?

The way I look at it is unless someone overpays or him why not try this....

I could see in 1 or 2 seasons from now a 4th line consisting of Florian-Tuch-Arber as a very punishing 4th line (if the kids continue to develop)

Not that crazy of an idea honestly. He can still play like a menace at forward but not have to worry about hurting the team too much with penalties. If he gets a fighting major at forward that's not as big a deal sitting for 5 mins vs when it's one of your defenceman

I think we need him on D tho. We need a sheriff back there to take care of business. Id much rather want to try Mailloux at RW instead I think that could be even more fun

 

[Hannibal]

Hopefully MSL will learn something after the first game that WSH is gonna bully us. WSH is a heavy fast and physical game.

 

[Mrb1p]

Its not really about Struble. Its Savy, and I love Savard.

Bottom pair the big boys, tell em they play hard in the corners, have them listen to hard in the paint on repeat in their helmet, watch them swing the game our way. 12-15 minutes a night, double shift Guhle-Hutson.

 

[Hannibal]

Its not really about Struble. Its Savy, and I love Savard.

Bottom pair the big boys, tell em they play hard in the corners, have them listen to hard in the paint on repeat in their helmet, watch them swing the game our way. 12-15 minutes a night, double shift Guhle-Hutson.

Xhekaj will be damn fine as a 5-6th dman on our third pair.

Hopefully f***ing MSL realise it sooner rather than when we will trade him and see him blossom elsewhere.

 

[badfish]

Arber did an interview a while ago, I want to say with spittin chicklets, that he played forward his first year in the OHL before switching to defense. I am almost certain I remember hearing that. I don't usually like the trope of switching defense to forward but if he did indeed play forward in the past, I'd prefer that to losing him in a trade if there's no room for him on defense.

 

[le_sean]

Double edged sword with him against Detroit. On one hand I think he would have responded to Chiarot trying to decapitate Suzuki. He might have calmed things down a bit just by his presence.

On the other hand, I’m not sure he could have handled the relentless forecheck of the Wings last night. I don’t think he does well with that type of pressure as a puck distributor.

But I will safely say he’s better than Savard 5v5 at this point. It’s just that David is willing to give his life on the PK.

 

[Hannibal]

He would be a perfect fit against WSH in the playoff.

Washington plays a heavy board game, rely on the cycle game to generate offence and they are big.

 

[bcv]

Reinbacher is knocking... back Motrin bottles at the infirmary.

He's far from ready, and we don't know if he ever will be. He's even more injury prone than Guhle.

Injury prone while he only had one real injury?

Also, he's ready to play in the NHL, he was straight up dominant in the AHL just after coming back from extensive missed time.

 

[Hannibal]

Injury prone while he only had one real injury?

Also, he's ready to play in the NHL, he was straight up dominant in the AHL just after coming back from extensive missed time.

Lets see if he can play 5 consecutive games first.

 

[yianik]

He would be a perfect fit against WSH in the playoff.

Washington plays a heavy board game, rely on the cycle game to generate offence and they are big.

Yeah, wait until Wilson starts knocking our guys over like bowling pins and we have 0 answer.

 

[habdynasty]

Anderson crushed Wilson this year.

 

[TheBuriedHab]

It's time to bring him back in. Last night made me sick watching Chiarot run around.

 

[Beendair Donedat]

Anderson crushed Wilson this year.

Anderson’s also not playing at 100 percent healthy right now.

As much as I enjoyed that scrap, that was a healthy and pissed off Josh Anderson, which is a tough man to face. In their fight prior to that, Wilson dropped him like a bad habit.

Plus a physical defenseman is on the ice a lot more in the playoffs. We need both guys in the lineup doing their thing. The guy I would sit is Fat David, but Marty would never do it…

 

[habdynasty]

Best two fights of the year were Anderson destroying Wilson and Trouba. Set the tone for the season.
I’d play Jack over Savard and Carrier.