Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff

[CanadienShark]

I don't know how you send him to the ahl at this point. He's hitting, scoring, fighting, and learning how to defend at the NHL level (and he's already not bad at it). What more do you want from the guy? When none of your rookies look out of place at this level (especially when 4 of 6 are rookies), I don't see any benefit in sending them to Laval.

Just think of what they could learn there.

 

[26Mats]

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.

It's more about having Kovacevic in the stands.

Would you rather: Xhekaj playing lower minutes in the NHL than AHL and Kovacevic playing no minutes or Kovacevic on a bottom pair and Xheksj on the top pair in the AHL?

Has nothing to do with Dadonov getting claimed or not.

Either way, I look forward to a vet like Eddie getting traded for a 1st.

So you want either Xhekaj or Kavacevik to be sitting in the press box watching games instead of playing them? That's the worst of both worlds. The reason you keep Wideman as number 7 isn't because he's good it's because you don't care if he ends up not playing for 40 straight games.

How long will it take Eddie to get his trade vale up? That's how long Kovacevic would have to sit in the press box.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Would you rather: Xhekaj playing lower minutes in the NHL than AHL and Kovacevic playing no minutes or Kovacevic on a bottom pair and Xhekaj on the top pair in the AHL?

Easy call. The better player plays in the NHL. The coaching staff felt Xhekaj is the better player the first time this choice had to be made. Since then, Xhekaj has even cut down his rate of nightly mistakes and has been given PP time and continuous praise.

It makes no sense to favour the development of 25 year old Kovacevic over a guy four years younger and already better.

I'm not saying to waive Kovacevic. There is no reason to risk losing him at this point. If we are going to waive someone, it should be Dud0n0v or Pezzzzzzetta, in my order of preference.

If everyone is healthy, and we don't want to sit Kovacevic indefinitely, he can play in one of the two games when we play back to back nights, and we alternately rest Eddy or Savvy for a game to keep them fresh.

The three youngsters need to keep playing and maximizing their development at the highest level, while the staff shows the whole team that the club is running a meritocracy.

 

[26Mats]

Easy call. The better player plays in the NHL. The coaching staff felt Xhekaj is the better player the first time this choice had to be made. Since then, Xhekaj has even cut down his rate of nightly mistakes and has been given PP time and continuous praise.

It makes no sense to favour the development of 25 year old Kovacevic over a guy four years younger and already better.

I'm not saying to waive Kovacevic. There is no reason to risk losing him at this point. If we are going to waive someone, it should be Dud0n0v or Pezzzzzzetta, in my order of preference.

If everyone is healthy, and we don't want to sit Kovacevic indefinitely, he can play in one of the two games when we play back to back nights, and we alternately rest Eddy or Savvy for a game to keep them fresh.

The three youngsters need to keep playing and maximizing their development at the highest level, while the staff shows the whole team that the club is running a meritocracy.

I also have Xhekaj in. I was pointing out that is the Dilemma, not risking losing Dadonov or not.

And, Ideally we move Eddie sooner rather than later, so Kovacevic doesn't have to sit too long. There should be a lot of teams looking for a rock like Eddue at a low cap hit soon. Toronto and Edmonton shou d Bexar the top of the list if their GM's knew what they were doing.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Call me crazy, but I think he is a better defenseman than Alexander Romanov. He have more offensive ability than Romanov. He hit more, he can defend well... he have all tools to be a very solid top 4 d-man. (i'm really impressive by his talent).

 

[BaseballCoach]

Call me crazy, but I think he is a better defenseman than Alexander Romanov. He have more offensive ability than Romanov. He hit more, he can defend well... he have all tools to be a very solid top 4 d-man. (i'm really impressive by his talent).

Arber will probably not progress unbelievably from age 22 to 24 like Larry Robinson did, but at 21 Xhekaj is slightly better than Larry was. He can be at least as good as Sergachev I think, being three years younger.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Call me crazy, but I think he is a better defenseman than Alexander Romanov. He have more offensive ability than Romanov. He hit more, he can defend well... he have all tools to be a very solid top 4 d-man. (i'm really impressive by his talent).

As I earlier opined, I think Romanov was one of the most overrated players for the Canadiens. With a team in flux, I will take the unknown promise/upside that a Dach brings to the known steadiness that Romanov provides.

 

[Vachon23]

Would you rather: Xhekaj playing lower minutes in the NHL than AHL and Kovacevic playing no minutes or Kovacevic on a bottom pair and Xheksj on the top pair in the AHL?

Xhekaj in the NHL, he's the one who is important. Kovacevic was bring here to be a #7 so I don't really care if he's in the stands.

Call me crazy, but I think he is a better defenseman than Alexander Romanov. He have more offensive ability than Romanov. He hit more, he can defend well... he have all tools to be a very solid top 4 d-man. (i'm really impressive by his talent).

Wasn't the biggest Romanov fan, but I still think he's better then Xhekaj. More steady in his play and have the ability to eat more minutes.

He can be at least as good as Sergachev I think, being three years younger.

Sergachev and Xhekaj are not really at the same leve.. not the same type of player and not the same celling either.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Sergachev and Xhekaj are not really at the same leve.. not the same type of player and not the same celling either.

Definitely similar ceiling. Arber may even have a higher one.

What is unknown is the chance of Arber hitting that ceiling.

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

Anyway, let's wait and see, but i would be very surprised, they would send Xhekaj down, Saint-Louis mentioned he was very happy with Arber's progress.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Call me crazy, but I think he is a better defenseman than Alexander Romanov. He have more offensive ability than Romanov. He hit more, he can defend well... he have all tools to be a very solid top 4 d-man. (i'm really impressive by his talent).

I'm a big Romanov fan but Xhekaj is showing more maturity earlier on. Today I say they are close to the same potential. Hard to say who ends up better vs the other.

Anyway, let's wait and see, but i would be very surprised, they would send Xhekaj down, Saint-Louis mentioned he was very happy with Arber's progress.

I think they run with 8D for a bit and decide from there. It's not the end of the world if Xhekaj / Kova / Harris split games for a week or two ish.

 

[26Mats]

Xhekaj in the NHL, he's the one who is important. Kovacevic was bring here to be a #7 so I don't really care if he's in the stands.


Wasn't the biggest Romanov fan, but I still think he's better then Xhekaj. More steady in his play and have the ability to eat more minutes.


Sergachev and Xhekaj are not really at the same leve.. not the same type of player and not the same celling either.

Yes I way prioritize Xhekaj over Kovacevic, and would go Xhekaj in and Kovacevic as #7.

BUT, I could see Kovacevic being a nice find as a bottom pairing Dman. You need low cap hit guys in a cap world. Then again if he plays well in that role he may get a bigger offer when he's set to become a ufa... kulak just got Edmundson/Chiarot/Savard money.

 

[PaulD]

Murray just get here from his lacrosse game ?

 

[EXTRAS]

Any chance they start using him on the penalty sometime soon?

 

[rik schau]

Any chance they start using him on the penalty sometime soon?

He's the one taking the penalties,so no.

 

[MonkeyBusiness]

Definitely similar ceiling. Arber may even have a higher one.

What is unknown is the chance of Arber hitting that ceiling.

Nonsense, Sergachev has the chance to be a perennial 50-60 point d-man, perhaps even more. Xhekaj doesn't even come close to Sergachev's potential. I like the kid but the comparisons and takes on this guy have become grossly exaggerated. He will most likely be a second pairing d-man at the most, which is perfectly fine. His offense is limited and his skating, as of now, is demonstrably slow as he gets beat in foot races quite often.

When Sergachev was 21 he was entering his 3rd NHL season and has only gotten better ever since. He's almost PPG as we speak.

 

[26Mats]

Call me crazy, but I think he is a better defenseman than Alexander Romanov. He have more offensive ability than Romanov. He hit more, he can defend well... he have all tools to be a very solid top 4 d-man. (i'm really impressive by his talent).

He may prove to be. We'll see. Romanov has good talent. Romanov's the closest to Guhle in terms of talent at skating the puck and handling the puck. But he has to polish his reads and hasn't developed offensively.

Xhekaj has will and confidence, in a Subban like way, that may take his game past his natural talent level.

 

[Tyson]

To make room for Matheson don't be surprised if Harris is sent to Laval.
The Edmundson/Xhekaj pairing is good enough to stay intact.

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

Nonsense, Sergachev has the chance to be a perennial 50-60 point d-man, perhaps even more. Xhekaj doesn't even come close to Sergachev's potential. I like the kid but the comparisons and takes on this guy have become grossly exaggerated. He will most likely be a second pairing d-man at the most, which is perfectly fine. His offense is limited and his skating, as of now, is demonstrably slow as he gets beat in foot races quite often.

When Sergachev was 21 he was entering his 3rd NHL season and has only gotten better ever since. He's almost PPG as we speak.

But Xhekaj is more versatile, he can fight, Sergachev is a less physical and more offensive version of Romanov.

 

[26Mats]

To make room for Matheson don't be surprised if Harris is sent to Laval.
The Edmundson/Xhekaj pairing is good enough to stay intact.

Good point.

They may keep 8D in Montreal, and rotate Harris, Kovacevic, and Xhekaj in and out of the lineup to find the best pairs. Then, once they find the best pairs if Harris or Xhekaj are the odd man out, they'll be sent to Laval so they don't go too long without sitting. If it's Kovacevic, I think they'd keep him as the #7 until a vet is traded at around the trade deadline or until there is an injury.

 

[Garnet76]

Romanov played very well defensively last year.. Xhekaj isnt near that level yet. Xhekaj reminds me a lot of Souray before the wrist surgery. I dont think anyone needs to be sent down. Rotate the young Dmen. Harris has had a few rough games in a row so I think he could use a night off.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Romanov played very well defensively last year.. Xhekaj isnt near that level yet. Xhekaj reminds me a lot of Souray before the wrist surgery. I dont think anyone needs to be sent down. Rotate the young Dmen. Harris has had a few rough games in a row so I think he could use a night off.

They all have bad games. They're rookies. It's a learning experience. But, the fact is, all our defencemen had trouble last night, rookies and veterans alike. The Devils were going wide and around Kovacevic and Savard as Howie Meeker use to say: "Like a hoop in a barrel".

 

[MonkeyBusiness]

But Xhekaj is more versatile, he can fight, Sergachev is a less physical and more offensive version of Romanov.

Ludicrous; just because he can fight does not make him more versatile. Serg plays in all situations for Tampa Bay and is an offensive dynamo, and his defensive game keeps getting better year after year. The comment in bold is equally bad. You know you're grasping at straws when you compare two totally dissimilar players. A more offensive version of Romanov, scoring at a point-per-game clip? Give me that any day of the week.

 

[yianik]

I would have been fine with any of these young D having started in Laval. Would have made sense.

Thing is, if they are playing well, and developing at the NHL level, is there not a risk with sending them down ?

Not the same, but I remember guys like BigMac, Scherbak doing well at the AHL for a stretch, being brought up, then sent down, and they did not pick up where they left off.

So if we have a young guy in a real good place right now, and he's on a roll ( we have 4 of them though ) , do we mess with it ? And from what I see on the forum, Houle is bad.

 

[Canadienna]

I would have been fine with any of these young D having started in Laval. Would have made sense.

Thing is, if they are playing well, and developing at the NHL level, is there not a risk with sending them down ?

Not the same, but I remember guys like BigMac, Scherbak doing well at the AHL for a stretch, being brought up, then sent down, and they did not pick up where they left off.

So if we have a young guy in a real good place right now, and he's on a roll ( we have 4 of them though ) , do we mess with it ? And from what I see on the forum, Houle is bad.

I agree with this, but feel like we don't have much of a choice. It's maybe the best of a bunch of bad options.

We have Matheson, Savard, and Edmundson as vets we won't waive, and Kovacevic who we would likely lose if we waive.

I don't think we will let a young D sit as the 7th guy, and Wideman/Kovacevic likely gets that spot.

This leaves us with basically three options.

Send down one of the young D.
Lose Kovacevic to waivers.
Trade one of our vet Dmen to make some space.

Or, if one of the D goes down with injury by the time Matheson gets back.

I like Kovy enough to not want to waive him.

I think it might be tough to move a vet D for an adequate return this early, could also mess with the room, this seems unlikely.

Which leaves us only the first option.

If we do send one of the young guys down, it should be Harris imo. Not that he's been bad at all, but he maybe seems like he would benefit the most from having a bigger role in Laval.