Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff

[Runner77]

I expect he's gonna be sent to Laval when Matheson is activated.

Why not Dadonov? I don’t get how they’d want to continue prolonging that sad experiment.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

No way he is sent down.

Guhle and Harris have both been much better positionally and they are not going to send down Savard, Edmundson or Matheson.

Kovasevic is the only possibility but they will 100% lose him to waivers.......Arber still has a ton to learn and the AHL is likely where he was headed before Matheson's injury.

I love watching him play and would love to keep him up but he really does have alot to learn and is still out of position way too often. This is a development season and Arber has far more to learn/gain from an AHL stint than any other defender on the team.

They could choose to waive Wideman and alternate Harris, Kovacevic and Xhekaj as a healthy scratch but that seems counter intuitive with the focus on development.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Why not Dadonov? I don’t get how they’d want to continue prolonging that sad experiment.

Waiving Dadonov does nothing to change the fact that they will have eight healthy dmen and be forced to sit at least one of the kids in the stands every game. Why not allow the kids to play every day by sending one to Laval?

 

[Redux91]

I expect he's gonna be sent to Laval when Matheson is activated.

But Jokes aside I also get it, quite a logjam at LD, at least the kid knows he can hack it in the bigs

 

[Hannibal]

Guhle and Harris have both been much better positionally and they are not going to send down Savard, Edmundson or Matheson.

Kovasevic is the only possibility but they will 100% lose him to waivers.......Arber still has a ton to learn and the AHL is likely where he was headed before Matheson's injury.

I love watching him play and would love to keep him up but he really does have alot to learn and is still out of position way too often. This is a development season and Arber has far more to learn/gain from an AHL stint than any other defender on the team.

They could choose to waive Wideman and alternate Harris, Kovacevic and Xhekaj as a healthy scratch but that seems counter intuitive with the focus on development.

Renaud Lavoie said the Habs will waive Dandonov and no way they gonna send down X or Slaf. Said the organisation saw that both of them are getting better while playing the NHL.

Lavoie sucks for trade rumors but for those kind of infos, he’s somewhat reliable.

 

[tazsub3]

Renaud Lavoie said the Habs will waive Dandonov and no way they gonna send down X or Slaf. Said the organisation saw that both of them are getting better while playing the NHL.

Lavoie sucks for trade rumors but for those kind of infos, he’s somewhat reliable.

Seeing arber make tape to tape cross ice backhand passes, he aint going to the ahl.

 

[StCaufield]

I don’t like the kid, haha, I never said that. I’m criticizing him for not doing his job. Sorry if you can’t handle that.

Nobody but reaves has that job and he’s a clown

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

Even if he's supposed to be a great guy in the dressing room, i wouldn't cry if they waived Wideman, he's easily replaceable on the PP.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Renaud Lavoie said the Habs will waive Dandonov and no way they gonna send down X or Slaf. Said the organisation saw that both of them are getting better while playing the NHL.

Lavoie sucks for trade rumors but for those kind of infos, he’s somewhat reliable.

He has absolutely no connection to the team and is entirely speaking out of his ass.

Maybe they do waive Dadonov but that won't be because this clown knows anything more than my dog. It wouldn't make much sense to waive Dadonov imo but I am sure that there are plenty of behind the scenes conversations that neither myself, anyone else on this board or Lavoie are aware of. The Habs have always run a very tight ship and buffoons like Lavoie can only guess like the rest of us.

 

[Hannibal]

He has absolutely no connection to the team and is entirely speaking out of his ass.

Maybe they do waive Dadonov but that won't be because this clown knows anything more than my dog. It wouldn't make much sense to waive Dadonov imo but I am sure that there are plenty of behind the scenes conversations that neither myself, anyone else on this board or Lavoie are aware of. The Habs have always run a very tight ship and buffoons like Lavoie can only guess like the rest of us.

Okay, bud.

 

[417]

Why not Dadonov? I don’t get how they’d want to continue prolonging that sad experiment.

I don't think they want him in Laval

I think they will send down Pezzetta.

Matheson - Edmundson
Guhle - Savard
Harris - Xhekaj
Kovacevic, Wideman

They're not exposing Pezetta to waivers and I don't think they're waiving Dadonov right now either.

Just makes sense with Xhekaj given Matheson is coming back.

It won't hurt him to play top pairing role in Laval for a few weeks.

Anyways, we’ll see

 

[Destopcorner]

I don't think they want him in Laval


They're not exposing Pezetta to waivers and I don't think they're waiving Dadonov right now either.

Just makes sense with Xhekaj given Matheson is coming back.

It won't hurt him to play top pairing role in Laval for a few weeks.

Anyways, we’ll see

He could surely use the slower pace to adjust a few things but he isn't out of place now and I also dont want him challenged by AHL goons on a nightly basis. Cant believe he didn't play D full time until 2 years ago... He still has so much to learn.

 

[Habs10Habs]

I don't think they want him in Laval


They're not exposing Pezetta to waivers and I don't think they're waiving Dadonov right now either.

Just makes sense with Xhekaj given Matheson is coming back.

It won't hurt him to play top pairing role in Laval for a few weeks.

Anyways, we’ll see

He would have been my guess to be sent down first. Until they started using him on the 2nd PP. Unless they're preparing him for Laval.

 

[Vachon23]

he is very similar to Byfuglien and very dissimilar to McQuaid.

Arber is way closer to a Adam McQuaid then he his from Byfuglien. I know he’s fun to watch and we didn’t have that type of player since a longtime but no need to overrate him. being a futur McQuaid is far from being a bad thing, he was an important piece (even if he was their #5) of a top 5 team in the 2010’s

 

[417]

He would have been my guess to be sent down first. Until they started using him on the 2nd PP. Unless they're preparing him for Laval.

I think that Matheson is going to play that role when he's back.

And Xhekaj doesn't really play PK.

So reading the tea leaves....

 

[BaseballCoach]

I think that Matheson is going to play that role when he's back.

And Xhekaj doesn't really play PK.

So reading the tea leaves....

Xhekaj has not sat out once, and is playing well. Why would the team send hiim down in order to avoid exposing Dud0n0v to waivers?? The guy brings nothing.

 

[CHfan1]

Xhekaj has not sat out once, and is playing well. Why would the team send hiim down in order to avoid exposing Dud0n0v to waivers?? The guy brings nothing.

Hughes has a tough decision to make when Matheson comes back. Waiving Dadonov (or potentially Pezzetta) means making a player like Kovacevic a healthy scratch. Sending down Xhekaj means both Kovacevic and Xhekaj (in Laval) both get to continue playing.

I like what Xhekaj brings to the Habs and would probably keep him with the big Club; playing Guhle, Harris, Xhekaj, Matheson, Edmundson, and Savard. But, again, it’s a tough decision to make.

 

[Vachon23]

The decision is not really tough, Kovacevic was bring here to sit and help when they are injuries. Wideman can be easily send down to Laval like Pitlick

 

[Garo]

yeah Wideman not even having a role on the PP exposes him a lot more than anyone else on the roster. Having Xhekaj and Kovacevic competing for that last slot makes a lot more sense than any other scenario.

 

[Guess]

yeah Wideman not even having a role on the PP exposes him a lot more than anyone else on the roster. Having Xhekaj and Kovacevic competing for that last slot makes a lot more sense than any other scenario.

Both Kovacevik and Xhekaj should not be on the bench and playing every game.

Wideman is done developing and has a good attitude on the bench.

If Kovacevik becomes the defacto 7D then it shows they don't view him in their future plans.

 

[417]

Xhekaj has not sat out once, and is playing well. Why would the team send hiim down in order to avoid exposing Dud0n0v to waivers?? The guy brings nothing.

Maybe. I hope you’re right.

 

[Garo]

Both Kovacevik and Xhekaj should not be on the bench and playing every game.

Wideman is done developing and has a good attitude on the bench.

If Kovacevik becomes the defacto 7D then it shows they don't view him in their future plans.

Kovacevic's future is, bluntly, very irrelevant to this team. He could be a good soldier for a few years but realistically that's not incredibly hard to replace nor is he particularly good now.

Xhekaj, as it stands, is a better player than the other two, has more upside and current growth. He shouldn't go anywhere unless his situation changes, and Kovacevic as a 7th makes more sense with this team than Wideman.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Arber is way closer to a Adam McQuaid then he his from Byfuglien. I know he’s fun to watch and we didn’t have that type of player since a longtime but no need to overrate him. being a futur McQuaid is far from being a bad thing, he was an important piece (even if he was their #5) of a top 5 team in the 2010’s

He has already nearly matched McQuaid's career high in goals.....

There are very few similarities, he is quite literally nothing like McQuaid. I think you are grossly underrating Xhekaj's skill level and skating and probably misinterpreting my comments.

I merely compared their style of play and there are far more stylistic similarities between Arber and Buff than there are between him and McQuaid. Much like Buff, Arber is actively involved in all three zones including skating the puck in the neutral zone and aggressively attacking in the offensive zone.....these are things that McQuaid never did, he was completely devoid of any puck skills and entirely useless in the offensive zone. McQuaid was slow and predictable unlike players like Xhekaj and Byfuglien that are aggressive in all 3 zones. Much like Buff, there is no denying the buzz in the building every time Xhekaj steps on the ice.....nobody ever said this about McQuaid.

And.......both "Xhekaj" and "Byfuglien" are the two most phonetically confounding names that the western hockey scene has had to contend with in recent memory.

 

[Sorinth]

I think Xhekaj will be the one sent down for a variety of reasons.
- He's waiver eligible so we won't lose anyone which is important since we won't remain 100% healthy and will probably need to recall whoever gets sent down at some point.
- He has the lowest ice time per game, 2nd lowest ES ice timer per game (Ahead of Wideman), so it would seem like 6 guys (With Matheson) are trusted by the coaching staff ahead of him.
- Although used a bit on the PP, Matheson would be used ahead of him anyways meaning that PP time would probably drop meaning even less ice time for him.
- There are things he could still learn/work on in the AHL and the overall increase in ice time would probably also be good for his development.

Now there are also some good reasons to keep him, but honestly given the waiver situation it's just so easy to send him down and then revisit the decision in a couple weeks if things haven't been going to plan.

 

[Redux91]

All the McQuaid talk is no joke pissing me off lmao
Arber will be WAY better