Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff

[Captain97]

Nobody HAS to fight.

Xhekaj is a good enough hockey player to hang in the NHL as #4-#5 without being a regular fighter

What I meant by "has to fight" was being physical and punishing players with big hits will always be part of his game. And when he first enters the league people will challenge him and vice versa until everyone realizes fighting him won't actually be good for his opponent.

He has made a name for himself and other people other than true heavy weights won't want to fight him anymore. And there aren't many of those left in the league.

But he'll always answer the call, Arber appears to be of the old breed of hockey players who live by the code.

 

[TT1]

Xhekaj never fought Reaves

oh it must have been vs Deslauriers, all i remember is it was vs a top heavyweight and he didn't look good

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Bottom pairing dman can still play 16-18 minutes a night and be a big part of their team.

Or he could be a great piece to trade to fill another need

They could but are top 2 pairings (Hutson - Reinbacher and Guhle - Mailloux) could potentially be so good that they play nearly 25 min a night.

We should also keep Xhekaj because he's a very unique defenseman and will still be able to have a big impact by playing lesser min a night due to his physicality.

Hutson - Reinbacher
Guhle - Mailloux
Xhekaj - Engstrom/Barron

Harris and one of Engstrom/Barron traded.
Barron will probably have the most value of the 3, so it would probably make the most sense to package him for a high-end forward (Keller?).

My initial point was that if Xhekaj's gonna stay on the bottom pairing, then having him fight often isn't really an issue anymore. If he was among our best 4 D, then you would want him to fight less and be on the ice more, but since he's more likely to be our 6th best D in the lineup, its not really an issue or as much of an issue if he fights. The idea that we should sign an enforcer so that our 6th D doesn't need to fight doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

 

[MasterD]

They could but are top 2 pairings (Hutson - Reinbacher and Guhle - Mailloux) could potentially be so good that they play nearly 25 min a night.

We should also keep Xhekaj because he's a very unique defenseman and will still be able to have a big impact by playing lesser min a night due to his physicality.

Hutson - Reinbacher
Guhle - Mailloux
Xhekaj - Engstrom/Barron

Harris and one of Engstrom/Barron traded.
Barron will probably have the most value of the 3, so it would probably make the most sense to package him for a high-end forward (Keller?).

My initial point was that if Xhekaj's gonna stay on the bottom pairing, then having him fight often isn't really an issue anymore. If he was among our best 4 D, then you would want him to fight less and be on the ice more, but since he's more likely to be our 6th best D in the lineup, its not really an issue or as much of an issue if he fights. The idea that we should sign an enforcer so that our 6th D doesn't need to fight doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Lots of ifs in that scenario.

You assume they all reach their full potential, which is very unlikely.
You also assume Guhle has a long career, which so far isn't a given, considering his injuries.
You also assume the top 4 plays full seasons without injuries, which won't happen.

Let's wait and see

 

[CAUFIELD]

oh it must have been vs Deslauriers, all i remember is it was vs a top heavyweight and he didn't look good

Yes it was against Deslaurier that Xhekaj didn’t look that good in the fight.

But Arber was at the end of his shift , and Deslaurier gave him no choice.

That being said, while I don’t want Xhekaj to fight to much because I like his overall game, he will keep getting stronger and he will soon be one of the top in the league. Reaves and Lucic are near the end …

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Lots of ifs in that scenario.

You assume they all reach their full potential, which is very unlikely.
You also assume Guhle has a long career, which so far isn't a given, considering his injuries.
You also assume the top 4 plays full seasons without injuries, which won't happen.

Let's wait and see

There aren't a lot of ifs. Guhle and Reinbacher are guaranteed to be in the top 4, and it's pretty likely that 2 of Hutson, Mailloux, Barron, Engstrom, and Harris will end up better than Xhekaj.

Assuming that Guhle won't have a long career is very far-fetched.

Of course, if there are injuries, Xhekaj could play in the top 4, but that's an exception.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Hide your wives

Spoiler: Don't hide anyone

 

[Redux91]

Hide your wives

Spoiler: Don't hide anyone

Awesome, I never thought habs marketing would jump on it but they finally did looks like
If anyone's wondering what this is in reference to its most likely this delightfully wonderful video by Keith Olbermann:

 

[HuGo Sham]

Xhekaj never fought Reaves

Arber is bigger than Reaves and 14 years younger. I have no doubt Reaves has the experience, but he also loves his staged fights. When Kassian tried that he got killed by Arber. I'm not saying Xhekaj beats Reaves, but I have 0 doubt Reaves will be excessively weary of Arber's strength and KO power

Awesome, I never thought habs marketing would jump on it but they finally did looks like
If anyone's wondering what this is in reference to its most likely this delightfully wonderful video by Keith Olbermann:

Keith is great - and a big habs and expos fan

 

[badfish]

If my stat scouring is correct he was one of two defensemen in the NHL last season who paced for 100 PIM and 20 pts. Other is Brandon Montour. Really unique player.

 

[Chadstudsky]

On Tony's podcast, BGL is very confident in Jackeye vs Reaves, he told Biz he is now the #1 heavyweight in the league. He alluded to giving him fighting lessons this summer to better defend himself. I for one am very excited for game one vs Toronto.

 

[Ezpz]

On Tony's podcast, BGL is very confident in Jackeye vs Reaves, he told Biz he is now the #1 heavyweight in the league. He alluded to giving him fighting lessons this summer to better defend himself. I for one am very excited for game one vs Toronto.

Reaves and Lucic can't even take regular shifts. If having Arber forces teams in the division to pick up scrubs like that it's only a good thing for us in the long run. He's young enough that he could be the top heavyweight in the league for a decade.

 

[Hannibal]

I think it’s a good thing that BGL taught some tricks to X!

 

[Tyson]

I have seen many unique stories about the Habs over the years but the Arber Xhekaj story of where he came from, being ignored twice in the OHL draft, twice in the NHL draft and stepping right into the NHL and establishing himself as a good young player and incredibly tough might be the coolest Habs story ever. He is easily my favorite Habs player.

 

[Jack Skellington]

I have seen many unique stories about the Habs over the years but the Arber Xhekaj story of where he came from, being ignored twice in the OHL draft, twice in the NHL draft and stepping right into the NHL and establishing himself as a good young player and incredibly tough might be the coolest Habs story ever. He is easily my favorite Habs player.

I still remember the first time seeing him at camp like who the f*** is this guy he's actually good. The wild thing about him is hes basically an untouchable in terms of trade value because he means so much more to the team and fans than another team would ever offer. Likely no team is offering a 1st rounder for a 3rd pairing Dman but would we even accept a probable Mesar/Poehling/Scherbak for this guy? I know I wouldn't.

 

[Tyson]

I still remember the first time seeing him at camp like who the f*** is this guy he's actually good. The wild thing about him is hes basically an untouchable in terms of trade value because he means so much more to the team and fans than another team would ever offer. Likely no team is offering a 1st rounder for a 3rd pairing Dman but would we even accept a probable Mesar/Poehling/Scherbak for this guy? I know I wouldn't.

If the draft was redone where do you think he gets drafted? I think in the 1st round.

 

[26Mats]

On Tony's podcast, BGL is very confident in Jackeye vs Reaves, he told Biz he is now the #1 heavyweight in the league. He alluded to giving him fighting lessons this summer to better defend himself. I for one am very excited for game one vs Toronto.

Xhekaj is still young. We don't know what he can do against the top heavyweights. He may get injured again. I like his game aside from fighting enough that I wish there was no fighting in the league so we didn't need to risk him getting injured and he could just play his game without the fighting.

 

[Miller Time]

Xhekaj is still young. We don't know what he can do against the top heavyweights. He may get injured again. I like his game aside from fighting enough that I wish there was no fighting in the league so we didn't need to risk him getting injured and he could just play his game without the fighting.

Indeed.

Zero benefit to him fighting Lucic, Reaves, or any other of these 4th line sideshow players.

Really hoping that as camp wraps up and Hughes pulls a trigger on a final roster move or two, it includes adding a similar plug for the sole purpose of playing in games vs teams that have a player like that to avoid X feeling like he has to answer the bell.

Much rather him just play and drop the gloves only in rare occasions against actual hockey players from the opposing side where the risk factor of being out of the lineup is similar

 

[rickthegoon]

Reaves has nothing to gain and everything to lose fighting Xhekaj, if a fight does happen, my bet would be the sheriff actually looking for it.
No way am I saying WiFi will ragdoll Reaves like he did with Kassian, I think Reaves is still sitting on the throne for another year.....but if he ever comes on top of that scrap, he then becomes The Guy ....... I don't think Reaves provokes it.

 

[jrom]

Good thing for Gudas to gtfo of the Atlantic in time, a few teams have scores to settle with him. Not sure the Ducks will appreciate the extra attention this year.

 

[BenchBrawl]

The maestro's greatest gift.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Reaves has nothing to gain and everything to lose fighting Xhekaj, if a fight does happen, my bet would be the sheriff actually looking for it.
No way am I saying WiFi will ragdoll Reaves like he did with Kassian, I think Reaves is still sitting on the throne for another year.....but if he ever comes on top of that scrap, he then becomes The Guy ....... I don't think Reaves provokes it.

Correction,

He has everything to lose by not fighting Xhekaj. The day Reaves starts avoiding fights is the day his career is over.

Kassian is not a good fighter and Xhekaj would likely lose to Reaves like he did to Deslauriers as he likely doesn't possess the skill and tactical nuances to beat up true heavyweight goons. I think Reaves would fight him very conservatively like Deslauriers did and it is unlikely that Xhekaj would do much damage but would take just enough to take the loss.

Anyways.....I don't want to see Xhekaj fighting any goons as he is to good to be taken off of the ice with them.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Yeah idk why we want to see the axe fight Reaves , anyways Reaves can't even keep up with the play and will probably turn soft in Toronto , they all do , there's something in the water over there.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Adam Lowry is like THE 3rd line centre you want and Xhekaj will be fine against Reaves. I honestly believe Anderson would be fine against him, too.

It's Lucic you gotta worry about.

Also, Lucic is still the heavyweight in the league and next is likely Lane MacDermid. Nicolas Deslauriers is 3rd imo. Xhekaj will be 1st just as this is likely Lucic's last season. MacDermid isn't a very good player and Xhekaj only lost to Deslauriers because of Dlo'a experience

 

[Tyson]

Xhekaj needs to play the game with a rugged edge, finishing his checks and focusing on hockey. He may have to address thuggery on occasion but fighting because some Neanderthal challenges you is unnecessary. When you become the meanest SOB in the valley you are usually left alone.

Adam Lowry is like THE 3rd line centre you want and Xhekaj will be fine against Reaves. I honestly believe Anderson would be fine against him, too.

It's Lucic you gotta worry about.

Also, Lucic is still the heavyweight in the league and next is likely Lane MacDermid. Nicolas Deslauriers is 3rd imo. Xhekaj will be 1st just as this is likely Lucic's last season. MacDermid isn't a very good player and Xhekaj only lost to Deslauriers because of Dlo'a experience

The difference between Xhekaj and the 4 players you mention is that Arber can actually play hockey.