Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff

[overlords]

No where, Habs have the day off.

well deserved rest

 

[The Real Timo]

No where, Habs have the day off.

Oh. How nice.

 

[WeThreeKings]

It's CBA mandated

 

[Habs]

It’s too bad Savard is taking up a spot. He should have been traded at the deadline.

Kent said he was too important the rebuild LOL. Thank god Hughes isn't a stock broker, nothing like selling at the bottom

 

[The Real Timo]

Kent said he was too important the rebuild LOL. Thank god Hughes isn't a stock broker, nothing like selling at the bottom

Looking at all these deals by Hughes, other than Hutson, there is hardly anything to be really excited about

 

[Habs]

Looking at all these deals by Hughes, other than Hutson, there is hardly anything to be really excited about

View attachment 920948

I agree but get ready to feel the wrath of the ‘Hughes can’t do no wrong ‘ fan club. I got your back !

 

[Kosseca]

Looking at all these deals by Hughes, other than Hutson, there is hardly anything to be really excited about

View attachment 920948

Arn't you a bit harsh with your evaluation??
I mean,
- turning Jeff Petry in Matheson, who became MTL no1 D... that is a solid move.
- Extracting a 1st for Chariot is pretty unexpected for what that guy was.
- Turning Romanov for Dach (value wise) is also a good deal.
- getting 2x 1st for Monahan is good (help us get Hage!!).

Now, he's far from perfect:
- Lehkonen was a bad deal. didn't like it at the time, still dont like the return. No problem with dealing the guy, we just didn't get value.
- Newhook, I never been a super fan of this guy, but on balance we paid more for him then we got from lehkonen... and that is... wrong?
- Toffoli's deal isn't bad value, but jury is still out on what we did with the return. The may have miss on the what next, not the trade itself.

Problem is that like most rebuild, you dont get to see the result of the trade until much time as pass... I mean, we dont even know what we can get with the other monahan pick.

 

[hvac412]

His play suffers because MSL won’t allow him to be the nasty, physical defenseman that he needs to be. He gets benched, he gets blamed and he sits in the press box.

He’s going to take penalties, yes he has to be more careful and he’s worked on that, but he will take penalties. But what he brings is a presence, a swagger. The Habs play bigger and tougher when he’s in the lineup. The other team’s forwards are nervous and less aggressive - see Tkachuk, Brady from early on this season.

MSL gives countless chances to Barron, Matheson, Hutson, Struble and Mailloux when they’re poor defensively. Yet Xhekaj’s leash seems invariably shortened. I don’t think MSL knows how to coach him to maximize his contribution, and he obviously doesn’t value toughness in his lineup. I don’t think Xhekaj will ever get a fair shake with MSL as the coach, to become the defenseman and player he should be. Xhekaj needs a hard nosed coach that understands what he brings and won’t just toss him to the wolves when he makes a mistake.

Exactly, we know what he’s capable of. We saw it when he came into the league, he faltered, then was sent to Laval, took it very gracefully ,improved himself ,came back and played well. Has a few hiccups and then gets crucified. The kid is obviously confused and the biggest problem I think is as you stated he’s being mismanaged. Not sure it’s even MSL that doesn’t like the toughness. We had the same issue when Deslauriers played for us ,even then after they dumped him I wasn’t sure if it was Julian who disliked that type of player, maybe Molson doesn’t like that style of play ,who knows. What confuses everyone is that a couple of weeks ago after we started the season with injuries caused by questionable hits MSL was all for “an eye for an eye “then all of a sudden Arbor is public enemy number one ! And to make things even more confusing, the media was criticizing both the system as a whole and singling out Arbor, doesn’t make much sense.Jesus !! the kid is only 23 years old. It’s not surprising that teams are lining up and salivating at the idea of Montreal giving up on this kid. Hopefully they get rid of MSL before they get rid of him but I doubt it ,once again history is repeating itself with the way this team is being run,soft, confused and without identity.

 

[Tyson]

Exactly, we know what he’s capable of. We saw it when he came into the league, he faltered, then was sent to Laval, took it very gracefully ,improved himself ,came back and played well. Has a few hiccups and then gets crucified. The kid is obviously confused and the biggest problem I think is as you stated he’s being mismanaged. Not sure it’s even MSL that doesn’t like the toughness. We had the same issue when the Deslauriers played for us ,even then when they dumped him I wasn’t sure if it was Julian who disliked that type of player, maybe Molson doesn’t like that style of play ,who knows. What confuses everyone is that a couple of weeks ago after we started the season with injuries caused by questionable hits MSL was all for “an eye for an eye “then all of a sudden Arbor is public enemy number one ! And to make things even more confusing, the media was criticizing both the system as a whole and singling out Arbor, doesn’t make much sense.Jesus !! the kid is only 23 years old. It’s not surprising that teams are lining up and salivating at the idea of Montreal giving up on this kid. Hopefully they get rid of MSL before they get rid of him but I doubt it ,once again history is repeating itself with the way this team is being run,soft, confused and without identity.

Confused is a great way to describe Xhekaj's play....he was so much better in his rookie year than he is currently.

 

[The Real Timo]

I agree but get ready to feel the wrath of the ‘Hughes can’t do no wrong ‘ fan club. I got your back !

Lol. Thanks

 

[The Real Timo]

Arn't you a bit harsh with your evaluation??
I mean,
- turning Jeff Petry in Matheson, who became MTL no1 D... that is a solid move.
- Extracting a 1st for Chariot is pretty unexpected for what that guy was.
- Turning Romanov for Dach (value wise) is also a good deal.
- getting 2x 1st for Monahan is good (help us get Hage!!).

Now, he's far from perfect:
- Lehkonen was a bad deal. didn't like it at the time, still dont like the return. No problem with dealing the guy, we just didn't get value.
- Newhook, I never been a super fan of this guy, but on balance we paid more for him then we got from lehkonen... and that is... wrong?
- Toffoli's deal isn't bad value, but jury is still out on what we did with the return. The may have miss on the what next, not the trade itself.

Problem is that like most rebuild, you dont get to see the result of the trade until much time as pass... I mean, we dont even know what we can get with the other monahan pick.

I don't think I am, and I appreciate the response. Arguably ANYONE who is of Jeff Petry caliber would be #1 on this team. Petry himself would be #1. So don't see it as a big achievement. A great trade would be to trade Matheson at TDL for some hefty return because off all his point. he won't repeat this season.

Benny's first was traded and I don't even know what became of it. If anything.

Dach, the way he is playing is a definite downgrade on Romy. And who knows if Dach will ever be able to give a full season to begin with. Not convinced at all.

Agreed on Moneyhab.

Overall, I still maintain, it is nothing really record and combined with the terrible decision to hire and then not surround St Louis with appropriate staff, and continuing not to, is the biggest failure.

 

[hvac412]

Confused is a great way to describe Xhekaj's play....he was so much better in his rookie year than he is currently.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence ,a lot of players seem confused ,again we know what they’re capable of ,the Ottawa game was a perfect example. Great game ! then all of a sudden we’re playing a completely different style. Jekyll and Hyde hockey once again .This is what’s frustrating ,we’ve seen this movie for the last three years, there’s no doubt that MSL has polished and improved some of the individual pieces, but putting those pieces together and creating a winning culture is what’s lacking on this team. i’m not sure if a winning team has ever been built from scratch with a completely unexperienced coaching staff, that’s one hell of a handicap to start a rebuilding franchise with.