Value of: Arber Xhekaj value in a trade

[conFABulator]

Look at his last game: he was steady, made good calls on the ice, played a simple, complementary shutdown role, and could be a #4 guy if the other 3 are skilled. If Guhle along with 2 of Reinbacher, Hutson and Mailloux are the Habs top 3, Xhekaj could be fine as a top 4.

Whether he can actually become that steady #4 physical D on a regular basis remains an open question, of course.

That's fair, and I am not being negative towards the Habs, but I don't think he could crack the top four on a team with a strong d group.

Now, maybe he could develop into something more than he is currently. He is still young and hasn't even reached the magical "200 games for an NHL defenseman to develop" threshold.

I like the player, but from the limited games I have seen him play his toughness seems to be his biggest asset. A tough dman has value, that player being your enforcer is tough on roster configuration. Every time he has to answer the heavyweight bell it is almost always against another team's 12th F and that is not a good trade to make. Playing with five D while WiFi is in the box for an extended period or ejected is a problem.

I would say this is one of those cases where his value is more the the Habs then to a team that trades for him because of what he MIGHT become.

Timothy Liljegren just got traded for salary back and two mid-picks. He was top four in minutes on a playoff team last year and had a better track record than Xhekaj. I am not comparing the two players in style or even possibly impact. I am saying that it's hard to justify any real value here unless he becomes an actual top four guy. He seems more equal to Simon Benoit (sticking with the Leaf examples) and he is not worth a first or a second round pick by any stretch.

As I said, he could continue to develop and that makes him valuable to the Habs and risky to others.

 

[BLONG7]

Look at his last game: he was steady, made good calls on the ice, played a simple, complementary shutdown role, and could be a #4 guy if the other 3 are skilled. If Guhle along with 2 of Reinbacher, Hutson and Mailloux are the Habs top 3, Xhekaj could be fine as a top 4.

Whether he can actually become that steady #4 physical D on a regular basis remains an open question, of course.

Well said......common sense, with no hate flowing.
HF cracks me up, the generalizing posts and statements, are hilarious.
You have to wonder if people bother to watch the games....

 

[JustAHabFan]

Look at his last game: he was steady, made good calls on the ice, played a simple, complementary shutdown role, and could be a #4 guy if the other 3 are skilled. If Guhle along with 2 of Reinbacher, Hutson and Mailloux are the Habs top 3, Xhekaj could be fine as a top 4.

Whether he can actually become that steady #4 physical D on a regular basis remains an open question, of course.

The problem with Xhekaj is consistency. He probably will be on the 3rd pair with upside of the 2nd pair.