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Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff

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Matthew McConaughay said:
Well not a lot, top prospects, no, Xhekaj was a hidden top prospect, saw Power play last night, he wasn't better than Xhekaj.
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he was not a top prospect. Just a kid playing at OHL level and he worked at Costco during the Covid season.

JoelWarlord said:
Sure, but not a lot of kids who end up playing in the NHL at 21 were working a day job at Costco or doing manual labour outdoors just ~13-18 months prior. Guhle for instance received 92.5k signing bonuses each year in July 2020, 2021, and 2022 while he was still in the WHL and was able to pay for ice time and training when the WHL was shut down with covid without having to worry about money at all. Xhekaj had to pay his own way to keep training when the OHL was shut down in 20-21 and for ice through Summer 2021, and didn't have a dime of pro hockey money until he signed his ELC in Sept 2021.

It's not amazing and noteworthy that a 19/20 year old worked an honest job, but it's a really cool story that a 19/20 year old working an honest job to pay for training and ice time was able to compete with and outplay a bunch of high draft picks that had signing bonuses at 18 with a much easier path, and make it to the NHL at 21.
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He worked thre during the Covid cancelled season. Like any kids his age wanting to make few bucks. What's so special about that ? I have a Univresity degree and I worked in a dairy for four consecutive Summers to pay my fees and room.
 
1909 said:
he was not a top prospect. Just a kid playing at OHL level and he worked at Costco during the Covid season.


He worked thre during the Covid cancelled season. Like any kids his age wanting to make few bucks. What's so sêcial about that ?
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He sure plays like a top prospect, who cares, i followed him for the past 2 years, and sure looked like a top prospect to me, all the other teams except the Habs, missed that guy.
 
Matthew McConaughay said:
He sure plays like a top prospect, who cares, i followed him for the past 2 years, and sure looked like a top prospect to me.
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That's not the point. Many great players were never drafted or drafted very late. The Costco thing is just folklore. Any Junior level kids are having some side jobs. We know that only 1% are reaching NHL anyway.
 
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1909 said:
That's not the point. Many great players were never drafted or drafted very late. The Costco thing is just folklore. Any Junior level kids are having some side jobs. We know that only 1% are reaching NHL anyway.
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Fair enough, but do admit, that Xhekaj is a great free gift we got.
 
1909 said:
He worked thre during the Covid cancelled season. Like any kids his age wanting to make few bucks. What's so special about that ?
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Again, the impressive and/or unique part is that most players who are good enough to make the NHL at age 21 are high picks and do not have to work an honest job to make a couple bucks like a normal teenager does. Dach, Suzuki, and Guhle all made 185k in signing bonuses in the span of ~13 months after being drafted and never had to even think about working an honest job within two weeks of being drafted.
1909 said:
I have a Univresity degree and I worked in a dairy for four consecutive Summers to pay my fees and room.
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Yes me too, although it was a restaurant for me. However, neither of us made the NHL at age 21.
 
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JoelWarlord said:
Again, the impressive and/or unique part is that most players who are good enough to make the NHL at age 21 are high picks and do not have to work an honest job to make a couple bucks like a normal teenager does. Dach, Suzuki, and Guhle all made 185k in signing bonuses in the span of ~13 months after being drafted and never had to even think about working an honest job within two weeks of being drafted.

Yes me too, although it was a restaurant for me. However, neither of us made the NHL at age 21.
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Xhekaj passed under the radar. How many NHL scouts put him on their shopping list ? The kid just happened to reach his cruise speed at the right time...for Habs. Otherwise, he would had been like 95-99 % of the other Junior level kids who will never play NHL level hockey.

Not having a fat signing bonus is not the end of the World. he got a contract before his last season in Hamilton anyway at 20. Not bad at all.
 
Paddy17 said:
Count me amongst the people who think he looks like Souray on the ice. He's got better skating and mobility even.

What I am surprised with, is how strong he is, beyond the obvious height and weight. Pound for pound, some guys are just stronger than others. He's one of those who are so strong beyond average... must be something about muscle fibers and efficiency. Anyway, when he pushes guys, he doesn't even look like he's trying that hard, and the guy just tumbles on the ice like a peewee.
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He reminds me of Weber with the ease that he can send players violently to the ice.
 
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Paddy17 said:
Count me amongst the people who think he looks like Souray on the ice. He's got better skating and mobility even.

What I am surprised with, is how strong he is, beyond the obvious height and weight. Pound for pound, some guys are just stronger than others. He's one of those who are so strong beyond average... must be something about muscle fibers and efficiency. Anyway, when he pushes guys, he doesn't even look like he's trying that hard, and the guy just tumbles on the ice like a peewee.
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Souray is kind of my first draft comparison for Xhekaj. Because they're big and are a presence in both the offensive and defensive zones.

But I think Xhekaj has better stick handing abilities, and skating and mobility. So it will be interesting to see how good he becomes offensively. But he probably won't have Souray's shot - or get to play with a Markov level talent feeding him passes on a silver platter on the pp.
 
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26Mats said:
Souray is kind of my first draft comparison for Xhekaj. Because they're big and are a presence in both the offensive and defensive zones.

But I think Xhekaj has better stick handing abilities, and skating and mobility. So it will be interesting to see how good he becomes offensively. But he probably won't have Souray's shot - or get to play with a Markov level talent feeding him passes on a silver platter on the pp.
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Safe to say he won't have souray's shot. Very few people who played the game had that shot. It's a shame he was chronically injured though.

There's actually not alot these two have in common other than both being big guys who had a certain presence among them.

To me, arber seems like he could become an enhanced version of chiarot.
 
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I'm kinda conficted on what they should do with him, he so fun to watch and I feel the team grows a couple inches with him on the team, his offensive game is pretty good but often caught out of position looking for a big hit or protecting a teammate or some lackadaisical play I think he could stay up as a solid 5-6 dman but I feel it's a disservice to his game and he should go down to laval and work on some his defensive game and pick his spot for a big hit instead of playing for the crowd

Ps I'm really high on the kid not intended to be a negative against him
 
JianYang said:
Safe to say he won't have souray's shot. Very few people who played the game had that shot. It's a shame he was chronically injured though.

There's actually not alot these two have in common other than both being big guys who had a certain presence among them.

To me, arber seems like he could become an enhanced version of chiarot.
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I hope he'll be better offensively and defensively than Chiarot. He has much quicker hands than Chiarot. Plus, Chiarot wasn't a very good fighter. Souray was. That's why I lean morectowrd Souray than Chiarot. But ultimately it will depend on what level he gets to.
 
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When I first heard of this kid, his ceiling was supposedly like an AHL goon.

Then it was okay maybe he could become a call up option, then okay maybe a bottom pair guy...

He just keeps playing better, which makes it hard for me to figure out how good he can get.
 
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1909 said:
That's not the point. Many great players were never drafted or drafted very late. The Costco thing is just folklore. Any Junior level kids are having some side jobs. We know that only 1% are reaching NHL anyway.
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The point is that he's one of the 1% who did reach the NHL, and he did in a way that's about as unorthodox as it gets in today's world. It's not the 1970s anymore, this type of thing is extremely uncommon these days. I understand what you're saying, it used to be that way for guys who worked hard to get to the show. It's completely different now.
 
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26Mats said:
I hope he'll be better offensively and defensively than Chiarot. He has much quicker hands than Chiarot. Plus, Chiarot wasn't a very good fighter. Souray was. That's why I lean morectowrd Souray than Chiarot. But ultimately it will depend on what level he gets to.
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Souray had one of the best slapshots in the game. I know arber apparently has a good slapper but lets not get ahead of ourselves
 
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admiralcadillac said:
Souray had one of the best slapshots in the game. I know arber apparently has a good slapper but lets not get ahead of ourselves
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Souray not only had a good shot but he did not need lot of space to unleash it. Having a good shot is something. Being able to exploit it in a NHL game where the space is small and the speed high is another. What made MacInnis so dangerous was not only the speed of his shot. It was the fact he could slap it while skating backyard and being pressured without losing much speed on it.
 
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Runner77 said:
For the past few days, radio buffoon Georges Laraque is saying that Arber could use defensive fighting tips.

Says that Arber learned his fighting technique from Zach Rinaldo who also hails from Hamilton but who unlike Jackeye, is only 5’10. Laraque says that at 6’4, he’s the same height as Jackeye and can teach him how to better manage his fights.

Laraque claims that he’s coached several NHL players on fighting techniques. If Laraque really wants to do this, why doesn’t he contact the Habs directly? A radio pitch sounds hollow and self-serving.
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I’d rather Arber work on his game than his fighting technique. Let Laraque get sone recognition somewhere else.
 
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Beendair Donedat said:
Good luck trying to get Big Georges away from the spotlight. He'd drag himself naked through a mile of broken glass to jump in front of a camera.
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I remember when Big Georges was interviewed in his home and made a peanut butter sandwich. There was lot of stuff in that sandwich. Peanut butter, bacon, tomatoes, grapes , ... that **** was disgusting and he ate it like it was nothing.
 
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