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Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff

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Tyson said:
Players with his skill set don't come around very often. I am still blown away that he went undrafted two straight drafts.
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I am thinking scouts said he was injured quite a bit, and kind sorta just got missed......
This was a nice find by MB or Timmins

Hannibal said:
Hughes once again let him down and failed to fufilled his whish of getting size and toughness.

Arber will, once again, have to do it alone.
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As others have mentioned, it's mid July......the season is almost 3 months away.

Hard to be patient, I get it....
 
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Habs Halifax said:
My guess is he gets the Harris bridge with a little inflation added. 2 years x $1.85M.

How many more RFA years does he have?
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I think the time that it has taken with a fired agent and a new agent is, that they may have 2-3 different options and offers to mull over.
Thinking RFA status takes kids to the age of 27-28
 
BLONG7 said:
I think the time that it has taken with a fired agent and a new agent is, that they may have 2-3 different options and offers to mull over.
Thinking RFA status takes kids to the age of 27-28
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UFA status is 7 seasons (40+ NHL games in a season) or 27 years old and older by june 30th. So there's 4 more years of RFA status for Xhekaj. A 2-3 years contract would be perfect.
 
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He’s in a Dach situation except his upside is 5-6 D + goon, not 2C.

Until he proves himself he’s a fringe nhl goon with busted shoulders.

I hope he signs a “show us” deal, rocks it and becomes a permanent 3rd LD, I love his type.
 
Tyson said:
Xhekaj was passed over twice in the draft. If a redraft was done...where would he be drafted? He is an NHLer and most after the first round never play in the NHL. Would he be a first round pick? 2nd round?
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he is ainec a 1st RD pick.

Rare are the players who can body check the best player of any teams like he does and the opposite team simply does not have any answer for it.

The hockey skills, although limited, is not bad but the intangibles here is extremely, extremely valuable. Its prime Lucic-like.
 
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Jaynki said:
he is ainec a 1st RD pick.

Rare are the players who can body check the best player of any teams like he does and the opposite team simply does not have any answer for it.

The hockey skills, although limited, is not bad but the intangibles here is extremely, extremely valuable. Its prime Lucic-like.
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Every GM in the league would trade a first round pick for him.
 
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Tyson said:
Perhaps but just about every GM in the league would trade a first round pick for him.
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A good comparable would be Romanov being traded for the 13th pick.

There's no doubt to me that Xhekaj is worth a first rounder.

Don't be surprised if his younger brother has the same kind of upwards trajectory. He's looked better than many of our past first rounders.
 
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KevSkillz4 said:
Some people want to trade Xhekaj, but if Habs trade him, in 2 years, the same some people will ask to acquire that type of guy lol
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Not many people want to trade Arber....they want to trade the much better Kaiden Guhle lol :)
 
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BLONG7 said:
I think the time that it has taken with a fired agent and a new agent is, that they may have 2-3 different options and offers to mull over.
Thinking RFA status takes kids to the age of 27-28
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I think it was 7 years of RFA service (40 games kick starting it) or age 27. Whichever comes first.

But not sure if the latest CBA agreement changed any of that.

ChesterNimitz said:
Xhekaj will end up having a better career than many of the touted defencemen taken in the first two rounds of the 2024 draft.

Xhekaj’s unexpected development proves the old adage that sometimes its better to be lucky than good.
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He's a clear case of proving that it's difficult to draft kids at age 17/18 and know where they are at age 19-21.

* Some are on rocket upward development
* Some stall and never get better.
* Some mature later with their potential (like Xhekaj who went undrafted).
 
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Habs Halifax said:
I think it was 7 years of RFA service (40 games kick starting it) or age 27. Whichever comes first.

But not sure if the latest CBA agreement changed any of that.



He's a clear case of proving that it's difficult to draft kids at age 17/18 and know where they are at age 19-21.

* Some are on rocket upward development
* Some stall and never get better.
* Some mature later with their potential (like Xhekaj who went undrafted).
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As one of the senior managers of my organization once said ( I manage a large sport organization who’s mandate includes selecting, training and fielding elite level U18 teams in a range of team sports) the only thing certain in high level youth sport is the uncertainty of these athletes’ pace and level of development. If that wasn’t so, no professional team would ever ‘miss’ on a draft choice.
 
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ChesterNimitz said:
As one of the senior managers of my organization once said ( I manage a large sport organization who’s mandate includes selecting, training and fielding elite level U18 teams in a range of team sports) the only thing certain in high level youth sport is the uncertainty of these athletes’ pace and level of development. If that wasn’t so, no professional team would ever ‘miss’ on a draft choice.
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Yup. I'm surprised at how many fans don't realize this. Scouts are like weathermen... 50% or more accuracy and they get a raise. Some are better at it than others yes, and that's why you see so many interviews and tough questions. They want to know as much information as possible.... beyond the stats/points.

What I do know is the ones who shine, are the ones who are obsessive at improving. Some kids think they are on par with others because they "train hard". While others who train hard don't have to be told to do it. They love it/enjoy it and it doesn't feel like a job.

Look at Slaf and Suzuki. Rink and gym rats and they show up well before practice and leave well after it. It's an obsession to them and they want to be among the best. I'm sure McDavid, Crosby, etc was like that too. Ask Sid's mom about her washer/dryer. haha.
 
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Habs Halifax said:
Yup. I'm surprised at how many fans don't realize this. Scouts are like weathermen... 50% or more accuracy and they get a raise. Some are better at it than others yes, and that's why you see so many interviews and tough questions. They want to know as much information as possible.... beyond the stats/points.

What I do know is the ones who shine, are the ones who are obsessive at improving. Some kids think they are on par with others because they "train hard". While others who train hard don't have to be told to do it. They love it/enjoy it and it doesn't feel like a job.

Look at Slaf and Suzuki. Rink and gym rats and they show up well before practice and leave well after it. It's an obsession to them and they want to be among the best. I'm sure McDavid, Crosby, etc was like that too. Ask Sid's mom about her washer/dryer. haha.
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Guy Lafleur use to sleep with his skates on so he could skate as soon as the sun came up.
 
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Jaynki said:
he is ainec a 1st RD pick.

Rare are the players who can body check the best player of any teams like he does and the opposite team simply does not have any answer for it.

The hockey skills, although limited, is not bad but the intangibles here is extremely, extremely valuable. Its prime Lucic-like.
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Agreed that he is easily a 1st round pick in a redraft

His puck skills are very good and easily above average as has been mentioned by Hughes and MSL. The only issue that he has is that he started playing hockey later than most kids and was just very raw and needed time to grasp the technical/positional aspects of the game.

He has the potential to be a very good 2nd pairing D if he can continue to work towards making better decisions and if he can remain healthy. His floor is a punishing bottom pairing dman who can contribute offensively due to having decent puck skills and an elite slapshot along with a powerful wrister.
 
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Estimated_Prophet said:
Agreed that he is easily a 1st round pick in a redraft

His puck skills are very good and easily above average as has been mentioned by Hughes and MSL. The only issue that he has is that he started playing hockey later than most kids and was just very raw and needed time to grasp the technical/positional aspects of the game.

He has the potential to be a very good 2nd pairing D if he can continue to work towards making better decisions and if he can remain healthy. His floor is a punishing bottom pairing dman who can contribute offensively due to having decent puck skills and an elite slapshot along with a powerful wrister.
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100% agree

I could not agree more with you my favourite hfboards bourgeois
 
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