Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff
- Thread starter Adam Michaels
- Start date
Struble needs to look over his shoulder because Adam Engstrom is showing great promise in Laval.
HabsAddict
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I cracked a smile when i saw him do a Bobby Orr...
He skates into their zone, takes a skate around the net, comes out to the top of the circle and fires the puck. He has a 107mph shot so that means a lot. Never seen that from him before.
Also doing the Ice General thing means a lot. He's seeing the ice and the game instead of his play. Last one who did that was Markov.
Don't get me wrong, he still makes a dumb play here and there but FAR less then he did before.
I want to see his offense and him using his canon more accuratly. He's already clocked over 102 moh in game and he's going to get better and FASTER with age.
My hope for him turning into Chara Lite sounds far fetched but look at Chara past. He wasn't a offensive force until he was traded and all of a sudden, he found his offence.
Keep in mind he jumped straight into the NHL from the OHL.
Give him time...and do not be suprised.
He skates into their zone, takes a skate around the net, comes out to the top of the circle and fires the puck. He has a 107mph shot so that means a lot. Never seen that from him before.
Also doing the Ice General thing means a lot. He's seeing the ice and the game instead of his play. Last one who did that was Markov.
Don't get me wrong, he still makes a dumb play here and there but FAR less then he did before.
I want to see his offense and him using his canon more accuratly. He's already clocked over 102 moh in game and he's going to get better and FASTER with age.
My hope for him turning into Chara Lite sounds far fetched but look at Chara past. He wasn't a offensive force until he was traded and all of a sudden, he found his offence.
Keep in mind he jumped straight into the NHL from the OHL.
Give him time...and do not be suprised.
Kobe Armstrong
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Struble needs to put that Greek God Body to work and play more physical, he should be a KO machine
dackelljuneaubulis02
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Yeah it’ll be interesting to see how good he can be. Couldn’t be happier that he’s turning it around. Dude has really solid offensive potential. I think possibly close to top pairing offense. How good he can be D wise will ultimately determine how good he can be.
Trabdy2
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Probably one of the brightest spots for our team this year is Xhekaj's improvement over the last 10 games or so. He's looking like a solid bottom pairing dman now. Impressed with his play, and he should have a regular place in the lineup if he keeps this level of play up.
Deebs
Without you, everything falls apart
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Less is more with Arber. If he doesn't try to be anything he's not, he'll be an everyday, reliable NHL player and have a solid career as a 3rd pairing/penalty killer.
Hannibal
Fear the Weber
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He probably our best dman at protecting the net and playing around our net.
Tourigny pretty much confirmed it on the radio the other day. Lemay ask him before facing the Habs, what does he show his team in the meeting before facing the Habs. Beside the obvious of caufield, hutson’s play, he said he showed how Xhekaj is defending the crease and how he blocks opposing players from around the net. It was pretty telling
Tourigny pretty much confirmed it on the radio the other day. Lemay ask him before facing the Habs, what does he show his team in the meeting before facing the Habs. Beside the obvious of caufield, hutson’s play, he said he showed how Xhekaj is defending the crease and how he blocks opposing players from around the net. It was pretty telling
BozoTheClown
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Kovacevic and Xhekaj were good together at keeping the clear free of players.
SlafySZN
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- May 21, 2022
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Top pairing offense? Let’s not exaggerate, he has 3 points lol
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dackelljuneaubulis02
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The slapper alone is evil. But he shown on Laval and the next few games that he can create quite a bit.
I don’t think he necessarily produces that much and I’m not talking about 60 points plus. More like 40. He may never get it because of deployment but I think he has the offensive skill for it
Olivier knows Habs have interest, if he wants to play for the habs he won't sign the extension and i have a gut feel that he wants to sign here. Maybe your right though, it's fun to speculate
Hannibal
Fear the Weber
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To me, he’s untachable in his own genre.
To have a big, intimidating, shutdown dman like him on our third pair moving into our rebuild to contender is a must and so important.
He’s playing the best hockey of his young career and he improves daily. Congrats to him to get out of his funk he had at the beginning of the year. Another proof of his strong mental toughness and dedication.
Keep it up, big boy.
To have a big, intimidating, shutdown dman like him on our third pair moving into our rebuild to contender is a must and so important.
He’s playing the best hockey of his young career and he improves daily. Congrats to him to get out of his funk he had at the beginning of the year. Another proof of his strong mental toughness and dedication.
Keep it up, big boy.
Its in the minutes. Game before Xhekaj had just over 21 minutes and last night just over 19 minutes, 3rd most of the D. Xhekaj is a favourite of mine but I dont wish ill on Struble. Maybe one of those 2 can just play their off side and form a thunderous bottom pair, although I still think Xhekaj could be something more one day.
WeThreeKings
Demidov is a HAB
Can we now put to rest that the GM and coach hated him? He's playing better and they are using him accordingly. He has also not been shy about being physical or getting involved in the after the whistle shit.
Controlled aggression now.
I'm happy that Arber have sorted out. He has played much better in the last few games than the beginning of the season. Let's hope that Dach will follow the same path soon.
I know one thing MSL said early in his tenure is he wanted to teach young players "when to and when not to" and you can see with Xhekaj, he's learning when to be aggressive/tough and when not to. Also learning when to fight and when not to. He's been playing fantastic. I know it seems like he's been playing for the Habs for a while but he's just over 100 career games. Hard to picture what he'll be at 200 or 300 games for example. He's going to be perfect for playoff hockey, whenever that happens.
Hannibal
Fear the Weber
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I just want MSL to show anger at other players than Xhekaj. Struble been shit since a long time and he still is the teacher’s pet. Always gushing over him in presser.
Just want MSL to continue to give some slacks to Arber. And be equally hard on players.
What anger did he show to Xhekaj?
It's funny, now that Xhekaj is playing every game, the media has suddenly stopped asking MSL questions about Xhekaj after every game and every practice.
in order to leapfrog Struble, Struble would have needed to be ahead of Xhekaj at some point .
Struble was outplaying him for the first 5-10 games of the season. Not that Struble was doing anything great, but Arber was a giveaway machine to start the year.
I mean, Struble has played 76 nhl games and they aren't really in competition with another. They are both playing well and developing nicely into tough, defensively sound d-men.
They are both so damn young.
Given the make up of our roster(s) I've always seen him as a seven particularly if he continues to get reps on the right side.
He can hit like a tank he is mobile the only thing I don't like is his inability to make simple timely plays.
I mentioned in the GDT he HAS to get the puck to Lane Hutson when he's open instead of turning it over in the neutral zone trying a 50/50 pass.
When I saw him live he also missed some very simple ups and was more focused on his dump. Needs more confidence maybe...
