Arber Xhekaj

[Derailed75]

Decently high:

He'd be in the Jack Hughes year:

From that draft only 76 players have played a game in the NHL. Which means he'd be minimum 3rd round.

Of those 76 - Here are players I take above him:

Forwards (12):
Jack Hughes
Trevor Zegras
Matt Boldy
Dylan Cozens
Cole Caufield
Kirby Dach
Mattias Maccelli
Shane Pinto
Kaapo Kakko
Alex Newhook
Philip Tomasino
Artur Kaliyev

Defence (3)
Moritz Seider
Bowan Byram
Cam York

Goalie (1)
Spencer Knight

Outside the top 16

-------

In the same range:

Forwards (4):
Peyton Krebs
Nils Hoglander
Vasili Podkolzin
Juuso Parssinen

Defence (3):
Philip Broberg
Tobias Bjornfot
Victor Soderstrom

I think the answer would be anywhere between 17-24. Pretty incredible rise for an undrafted player.

You missed Pyoter Kochetkov

 

[BlueDream]

Reaves is such a clown. I’m so tired of hearing him run his mouth. He’s extremely lucky he came into the league right after all the legit heavyweights were exiting, because otherwise nobody would even know who he is.

Xhekaj needs to knock him out next time and I’ll forever love him.

 

[PaulD]

Thats not even remotely correct. As a Canes fan he would be slotted well behind both Chatfield and D'Angelo. Ahl level on the Canes


He made the team on one of the worst if not the worst team in the league. Still hell of a personal accomplishment being undrafted and getting a roster spot, but truth is that would be a hell of a lot tougher on most teams in the league and impossible on some

Yea he's no Justin Holl. ha!

 

[HabsQC]

He's amazing, real eady to cheer for him. As the new heavyweight champ, he deserves his main board thread

 

[NyQuil]

You're right, this is the glorified Hal Gill thread.

Hal Gill couldn’t really fight well.

He was just really big and was an underrated PKer.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

1. Reaves never got jumped
2. Xhekaj has defied expectations but I still wouldn't want him playing D on my team. If he was a F, maybe.

He has value, I don't think he's just a scrub, but guys like Reaves and him just don't have the affect the league thinks, at least in my opinion. Thats speaking purely on the ice. Locker room and team wise there is certainly valid aspects but from the outside all of that stuff seems emotional and over stated.

Xhekaj is a much, much better player than Reaves

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Definitely respect the relentless nature to make the NHL, his story is pretty inspiring and full of tremendous work ethic and belief in himself.

As for the player, I'd love him on the Panthers, he's a lot of what the old school was but still has some offensive tools to maybe become an elite #4D/2nd pair guy.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

You're right, this is the glorified Hal Gill thread.

Hal Gill was terrible.

 

[HuGo Sham]

Good story, but he is nothing more than a bottom pairing defender.

maybe someone can confirm this, but I think he was only one of 2 NHL Dmen last year to be on pace for 20 pts and 100 pims.
if so, that's not a bottom pairing D

 

[HuGo Sham]

Komeserik was never "our champion"
But he was willing and he did get throttled by Lucic.
Then Lucic did it again to Kommy while he was on the leafs


Envy

sorry missed that. komisarek is a terrible comparison. Came out of a college, never a fight.
Xhekaj was voted toughest and was considered most feared player in the OHL

 

[HuGo Sham]

He might be one of if not the strongest guy in the league. I get the impression that he took a lot guys by surprise by just how strong he is, especially during his fights. Kid's a beast.

true and big hands. If you look at his fights, he has major KO power. It's scary.
Laraque has been tutoring him a bit and can't shut up about how strong he is

Thats not even remotely correct. As a Canes fan he would be slotted well behind both Chatfield and D'Angelo. Ahl level on the Canes


He made the team on one of the worst if not the worst team in the league. Still hell of a personal accomplishment being undrafted and getting a roster spot, but truth is that would be a hell of a lot tougher on most teams in the league and impossible on some

tell us you watch a player without every actually watching the player

The real question is where does he go in a redraft?

middle to end of 1st round

- in my opinion

 

[abax44]

Pretty good

Yeah, not too shabby at all. So could he be a Buff lite type of player, if he picks up a little more offense?

 

[CupInSIX]

I remember very well some time ago, in one of the peek of the great rivalry Boston VS Montreal.

A certain Milan Lucic destroyed our champion of that time.




a black day for any habs fan

Although a beatdown was inevitable, he should have been protected that night.

 

[LeProspector]

maybe someone can confirm this, but I think he was only one of 2 NHL Dmen last year to be on pace for 20 pts and 100 pims.
if so, that's not a bottom pairing D

ah yes, penalty minutes - the best statistic to gauge a players on ice value! Oh…. Wait.

 

[Over the volcano]

Although a beatdown was inevitable, he should have been protected that night.

He was a paper tiger and knew it.

This kid is the real deal - and I hope Lucic lays a beating on him. Will be fun to watch (and I hope neither get hurt).

 

[HuGo Sham]

I don't think anyone would argue with that, but I also don't think there's more than a few teams who wouldn't swap either of their bottom pairing D for him in a heartbeat - even age and upside aside


This is why I proposed bringing in another tough guy in the summer and was roasted for it lol. When he was fighting too much last year his play suffered, he has a chance to be a really unique and valuable player a la Wilson/Lucic and while I think he can keep up with the heavyweights I hope he's not cornered into being just that. His little bro can't get here soon enough

this is precisely why he should be ignoring a scrub, WWE-wannabe like reaves next March

 

[PaulD]

That’s great, he is very tough. But as of now, he is still a bottom-pairing defender who got outplayed by Norlinder in camp.

sorry missed that. komisarek is a terrible comparison. Came out of a college, never a fight.
Xhekaj was voted toughest and was considered most feared player in the OHL

I was replying to the poster who mentioned Lucic destroying the habs champ. I agree with you on Kommy and pointed that out yo the poster.
Kommy was never a tough guy. I watched him play in A in here in Hamilton.
He was willing , but no good at fighting.

 

[dirtydanglez]

reaves is being a baby. seems mad he lost.

 

[swiftwin]

I remember last year against Ottawa during pre-season, he was a beast and drove every Otttawa fans crazy with his hits and fight.

He drove us crazy in the prospects tournament because he took cheap shots at our 17-18yr old kids as a 20-21yr old overager two seasons in a row.

He was ineffective and did nothing during pre-season against men. He was even more useless against us during the regular season (he was a -5 against us last season).

 

[HuGo Sham]

I was replying to the poster who mentioned Lucic destroying the habs champ. I agree with you on Kommy and pointed that out yo the poster.
Kommy was never a tough guy. I watched him play in A in here in Hamilton.
He was willing , but no good at fighting.

sorry i agree with you. should've been more clear i was replying to OP

 

[PaulD]

sorry i agree with you. should've been more clear i was replying to OP

cheers

 

[EveryDay]

He drove us crazy in the prospects tournament because he took cheap shots at our 17-18yr old kids as a 20-21yr old overager two seasons in a row.

He was ineffective and did nothing during pre-season against men. He was even more useless against us during the regular season (he was a -5 against us last season).

Haha yeah right... He was one of the youngest player on both team.

He fought Massicotte and was hitting everyone on his way.

 

[Byron Bitz]

Reaves is such a clown. I’m so tired of hearing him run his mouth. He’s extremely lucky he came into the league right after all the legit heavyweights were exiting, because otherwise nobody would even know who he is.

Xhekaj needs to knock him out next time and I’ll forever love him.

Lol Reeves will dust him next time they fight. Xhekaj didn’t wanna trade with him that’s why he took him down

 

[OldCraig71]

Why can't opposing fans just appreciate a good news hockey story no matter the jersey the player wears?.

 

[vandymeer13]

He is a player all fans secretly wish was on their team. It will be a good day when he is no longer a Hab.

Who secretly wishes they had a tough guy willing to fight who can play?