Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff

[Runner77]

There are plenty of AHL vets that will try him and some NHL players that will do the same. The danger in being recognized as a tough guy is that there might be a time when he gets caught on the wrong end of one of those punches. Management probably wants him to develop his defensive game and not just go out and fight.

Better Jackeye getting into it than a prized prospect or a defenceless diminutive.

Sometimes, there is just no way around it but there is also a lot of power in dissuasion.

 

[Schooner Guy]

Holly crap, even though I cannot pronounce his name, I'm about to start the Church of Xhekaj. To all the young folks outthere, THIS is how you have management of a hockey team notice you. He better play for the team next year. Two clean hits literally killed a guy and then he knocked out another with a punch.

Just call him Jackeye lol.

His name is easy to pronounce, Jack-eye

Personally I find his name easy to pronounce (Jackeye). Just don't ask me to spell it! LOL!!!

I've seen him play countless times on TV and three times in person at Memorial Cup but I still can't spell his name correctly on HockeyDB.

 

[Beendair Donedat]

Massicotte is 21 years old, 6'4'' and 216 lbs. Not exactly a boy.

It's an expression, not something that really needs to be nitpicked.

 

[OldCraig71]

Better Jackeye getting into it than a prized prospect or a defenceless diminutive. Sometimes, there is just no way around it but there is also a lot of power in dissuasion.

I see Jackeye as a prized prospect hence the reason I don’t want to see him get hurt by a lucky punch. He is going to be a good one, probably one of our best young defenders.

 

[Kimota]

His name is easy to pronounce, Jack-eye

Thanks. I thought it was

 

[Beendair Donedat]

The more I think about it, the more he reminds me of Sheldon Souray. Extremely confident in his own abilities to the point of cockiness, a real mean presence on the ice, has a bomb of a shot, and will go out of his way to stick up for a teammate. His teammates will all play a couple of inches taller and 15 lbs heavier with him on the ice.

 

[BenchBrawl]

The more I think about it, the more he reminds me of Sheldon Souray. Extremely confident in his own abilities to the point of cockiness, a real mean presence on the ice, has a bomb of a shot, and will go out of his way to stick up for a teammate. His teammates will all play a couple of inches taller and 15 lbs heavier with him on the ice.

Yes, Souray is a good comparable, although Xhekaj looks to be a more mobile skater.

Sheldon Souray was awesome.

 

[Runner77]

I see Jackeye as a prized prospect hence the reason I don’t want to see him get hurt by a lucky punch. He is going to be a good one, probably one of our best young defenders.

That’s an interesting assessment and one that has eluded me. I unfortunately did not watch today’s game.

I wonder what his ceiling might be.

Same way we couldn’t more accurately tell how to rank him as he was too physically imposing in juniors, it is, as many have noted, not a good idea to overly extrapolate from these rookie tournaments.

It certainly bodes well for the upcoming NHL camp but would prefer to reserve judgment until after he’s faced NHLers. As much as I like what he brings, I don’t know that his ceiling is more than a third pairing D. I’d love for him to be more but I just don’t know at this time.

 

[Paddyjack]

Just call him Jackeye lol.

I think it should transform into Blackeye, because he is certainly going to hand a lot of these in future years ;p

 

[BenchBrawl]

I'd be ecstatic if he could become a hybrid between MTL-era Souray and Hamrlik.

That's how I see his ceiling.

 

[Mrb1p]

I'd be ecstatic if he could become a hybrid between MTL-era Souray and Hamrlik.

That's how I see his ceiling.

Its nice to dream. At Xhekajs age, Hamrlik was putting up 60 points in the NHL.

Safe to say thats not his ceiling. His ceiling is probably Chiarot.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Dude, just look at Ryan Reaves' fights. He's a handful.

Xhekaj isn't going to be the top guy, but there's not many in the league can fight.

The sad/scary thing is 25 years ago Reaves is a low end middle weight

 

[Runner77]

I think going forward, we would be best served to play Harris on the right side. He has enough IQ and mobility to do it effectively, and he's played plenty on his off-side in college and tourneys.

If I’m not mistaken, Harris has played more games on the right side, so he might be more comfortable there. If he’s deemed ready, would be a good idea to play him there as Hughes attempts to bolster that right side.

 

[Kimota]

I think his name should be pronounced X-Cage.

 

[Vachon23]

The more I think about it, the more he reminds me of Sheldon Souray. Extremely confident in his own abilities to the point of cockiness, a real mean presence on the ice, has a bomb of a shot, and will go out of his way to stick up for a teammate. His teammates will all play a couple of inches taller and 15 lbs heavier with him on the ice.

Souray without the offence Souray was bringing

 

[holy]

Arby’s new Knuckle Sandwiches are selling out fast, hot damn.

 

[Hannibal]

I was a big fan of Souray. He was oozing cockiness and badass attitude. I can see that comparaison with Jack-Eye!

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

I see Jackeye as a prized prospect hence the reason I don’t want to see him get hurt by a lucky punch. He is going to be a good one, probably one of our best young defenders.

That whatever call him or spell it jask-eye is a homerun ! When was the last time we had a D like that? Craig Ludwig. And I think he will be better than Ludwig and little anecdote in the same years as the "Crème Budwig", knowned as the smoothie of the 80's.

 

[rickthegoon]

Guys like Lucic, Gudbransson, Reaves, MacDermid, Wilson and Johnston will tune him out. Better let Anderson and Edmundson do the heavy fighting for a couple of years while he gets stronger and more experienced.

Glad to see folks wanting to jump on the Jackeye bandwagon. I agree with you that he should not take on heavyweights right away, but man I still would love to see him run Lucic through the boards.... that would be very heartwarming

 

[YukonCornelius 5thOA]

That immediate skate away after the punch was pretty dope.

 

[Runner77]

Arby’s new Knuckle Sandwiches are selling out fast, hot damn.

Jackeye has the meats — in the form of oversized, thick mittens.

 

[Captain97]

Personally I'm expecting more of a bigger Radko Gudas type player. Just an absolute SOB who should be a 4/5 playing 15 - 18 minutes a game hitting everything that moves, and scaring the living Sh*t out of everyone on the opposing team.

 

[calder candidate]

Although I don’t want anyone the with NHL upside to be fighting, having a guy like him will take a lot of pressure off other higher upside prospect from having to drop the gloves and it will be a deterrent for other team because he has knockout power and the size. A few beating like that and there won’t be many that will be eager to take him on.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Its nice to dream. At Xhekajs age, Hamrlik was putting up 60 points in the NHL.

Safe to say thats not his ceiling. His ceiling is probably Chiarot.

I said MTL-era Hamrlik. Not Hamrlik in his prime.

 

[Redux91]

Lol great line on Twitter:
"He might make the team because management might be too scared to tell him he is cut."
Lmao