Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff

[FLHabs]

Xhekaj needs to play with confidence and swagger which is not happening right now. Sucks that Matheson is injured, but if he misses a few games, I'm willing to bet that Xhekaj will be better and play a lot looser with a spot somewhat secured for the time being.

 

[Habs]

First of all you rip on everyone more than anybody else. Is this post satire? What about all the times you've ripped Barron?

Secondly we're ripping on him because he's getting burned in all situations. He's objectively worse than Barron ever has been, he gets killed off the rush, he can't seem to break up a cycle, he misses hits all the time, his breakout passes have been horrendous and he hasn't even been mean clearing the front of the net.

He constantly doesn't rotate onto his proper coverage, like every single shift. I'm wondering outside of fighting, which I love him for, what does this guy do well? His shot is a nice tool if he could get it off and on target, but that's a rare event.

He was a glaring factor in the loss tonight. He has to pick up that man in the high slot on the second goal to make sure he can't get a clean tip. He didn't. He literally is just standing there. He got blasted off the rush multiple times tonight, he's been absolutely awful

If I had a dollar for every time this guy has made a zero IQ play this season I'd buy this site. That isn't hyperbole.

I really have high hopes for the guy cause I want the nuclear deterrent in the lineup, but at this point the mainboard posters calling him just a goon haven't been wrong.

Justin Barron is a former 1st round pick who can barely crack a dogshit blueline and has the luxury of training with some of the best player in the NHL along the way. Xhekaj is an undrafted kid who had to work at Costco. Spot the difference in expectations? Lemme guess, lets dump the only guy who has consistently dropped the gloves for this team, so another creampuff can dance around and cough up the puck instead?

Oh noes he's not living up to his undrafted expectations lol. How about we worry about the high paid turds on this team that haven't scored yet this year?

 

[WeThreeKings]

Needs to play with his edge, he's over-corrected a bit too much since the pre-season.

 

[morhilane]

Needs to play with his edge, he's over-corrected a bit too much since the pre-season.

X is scared of losing his job (to Engstrom,Struble, Mailloux and cie) and it's doing a mental game on him.

 

[417]

He has regressed for sure.

IMO, its more he hasn't PROGRESSED.

 

[Tyson]

IMO, its more he hasn't PROGRESSED.

I totally agree, he was more effective in year 1.

 

[417]

I totally agree, he was more effective in year 1.

I said it during preseason and got a lot of heat for it...but it won't be enough for Xhekaj to be known as the league's most fearsome face puncher.

He's a Dman on this team, he's going to be expected to take a regular shift and fulfill a role that goes beyond enforcing.

Everyone wants to look at Barron and say he's playing awful, because AX is "cool"...

OK, but at the end of the day, performance is performance and it's pretty obvious who the weakest link is right now.

I'm far from giving up on AX, I think he's got so much more to give...but he's got to ignore that role that fans/media are so desperate for him to have, he can be so much better while still remaining feared/respected.