Player Discussion Our Rookie Defensemen

[BaseballCoach]

Kovacevic has the best +/- on the team. He IS a defenseman after all, not flashy but pretty steady considering.

He's not very good. He won't be starting on a contending team. For a spare, I suppose he's fine.

 

[Habsrule]

How Xhekaj went undrafted into the OHL and no NHL scouts thought he was worthy of being drafted is mind boggling.
He went straight from being undrafted into the NHL and is good enough to play a regular shift.
How good can he become? I think top 4 D is accurate.

I live in Kitchener and watched Xhekaj play there for the Rangers. This is why he went undrafted;

In his rookie season as a 17 year old he was a walk on tryout who made the team. That is pretty much unheard of in the CHL. He played very sparingly minutes and all Rangers fans figured he’d just be a physical depth defenceman for his OHL career.

Then as an 18 year old he really made a jump in play. This was his draft year. Problem was Kitchener had two NHL drafted defencemen on the team and their two imports were both defencemen who got drafted to the NHL. The two other defencemen on the team had one was an overager and the other was Kitchener’s first round draft pick. Xhekaj started the season off as the 7th defence on the team. By the end of the year he managed to play himself into a top four role. Problem was he just didn’t have the stats to back up his play for NHL scouts to take notice. 17 points in 51 games doesn’t turn many heads.

In his 19 year old season I am 100% positive that he would have been drafted by an NHL team. He would have played a big role on Kitchener with plenty of ice time. Problem was Covid hit and the entire season was cancelled.

Then as a 20 year old is when his story really starts to happen. He made a name for himself and the rest is history.



I’m just about 40 years old and have been going to Kitchener Rangers games since 2002. I’ve had season tickets in there a few times and dropped back on other years that the team would be bad. I’ve seen many players and I will honestly say the Arber Xhekaj is the most improved player I can remember. His progression year to year is nothing short of astounding. I had figured last year that he will eventually be an NHL player but would take a few seasons in the AHL and would eventually make it as a bottom pairing defenceman one day. He had exceeded my expectations in a very short timeframe.

 

[BLONG7]

How Xhekaj went undrafted into the OHL and no NHL scouts thought he was worthy of being drafted is mind boggling.
He went straight from being undrafted into the NHL and is good enough to play a regular shift.
How good can he become? I think top 4 D is accurate.

If I remember, someone said The Sherriff was injured during his draft year, or years, and simply got missed except for one of the guys, who worked for Timmins......a real good find is an understatement.....

 

[BLONG7]

I live in Kitchener and watched Xhekaj play there for the Rangers. This is why he went undrafted;

In his rookie season as a 17 year old he was a walk on tryout who made the team. That is pretty much unheard of in the CHL. He played very sparingly minutes and all Rangers fans figured he’d just be a physical depth defenceman for his OHL career.

Then as an 18 year old he really made a jump in play. This was his draft year. Problem was Kitchener had two NHL drafted defencemen on the team and their two imports were both defencemen who got drafted to the NHL. The two other defencemen on the team had one was an overager and the other was Kitchener’s first round draft pick. Xhekaj started the season off as the 7th defence on the team. By the end of the year he managed to play himself into a top four role. Problem was he just didn’t have the stats to back up his play for NHL scouts to take notice. 17 points in 51 games doesn’t turn many heads.

In his 19 year old season I am 100% positive that he would have been drafted by an NHL team. He would have played a big role on Kitchener with plenty of ice time. Problem was Covid hit and the entire season was cancelled.

Then as a 20 year old is when his story really starts to happen. He made a name for himself and the rest is history.



I’m just about 40 years old and have been going to Kitchener Rangers games since 2002. I’ve had season tickets in there a few times and dropped back on other years that the team would be bad. I’ve seen many players and I will honestly say the Arber Xhekaj is the most improved player I can remember. His progression year to year is nothing short of astounding. I had figured last year that he will eventually be an NHL player but would take a few seasons in the AHL and would eventually make it as a bottom pairing defenceman one day. He had exceeded my expectations in a very short timeframe.

Thanks for this, great summary.......

I see Drew Doughty with Kaiden Guhle, i'm really happy that Habs drafted a beast at 16th overall. The potential of Guhle is outstanding, not just a top pairing defenseman, but he is going to be a big leader for many years to come.

We all have given Timmins a rough time over the years, but he did find some nice picks........( also found some real duds )
Guhlie has got some wow to him, and it's all just starting....

I see Drew Doughty with Kaiden Guhle, i'm really happy that Habs drafted a beast at 16th overall. The potential of Guhle is outstanding, not just a top pairing defenseman, but he is going to be a big leader for many years to come.

We all have given Timmins a rough time over the years, but he did find some nice picks........( also found some real duds )
Guhlie has got some wow to him, and it's all just starting....

 

[McGees]

I can’t wait til Guhle fills out and reintroduces ‘blowing guys up’ into his game

 

[Number 57]

I think the biggest question mark for me is who will still be there in 3 years time? Obviously Kovacevic is the odd man out. But knowing you have Hutson, Mailloux, Barron and likely others on the way makes you wonder if we're gonna ice an all under-23 D soon enough. I mean, they can't all get ice time, and Matheson/Savard are signed long term.

It would make no sense for someone like Mailloux to spend 3 years in Laval when Xhekaj made it right away. At this point, Barron should be getting his chance in the NHL soon, too (which would make it 5 rookie dmen in Montreal)

Would HuGo pull a trade for maybe an upgrade on the top-6 fwd or for a key young goalkeeper by trading one of our D?

Guhle-Harris
Xhekaj-Mailloux
Hutson-Barron
Matheson-Savard
Kovacevic

 

[Habs Icing]

I think early on, Harris was fantastic, but he has struggled the last month or more. A lot more mistakes and getting over-powered. Still a fine level of play, but I can’t agree he’s outplaying Xhekaj any more.

We keep saying we're loaded at left defence. I can see Hugo using Harris as a trade piece. He doesn't have the offensive upside to make up for the mistakes and getting overpowered. He has been good but not good enough to escape the Romanov treatment.

 

[Tyson]

Thanks for this, great summary.......


We all have given Timmins a rough time over the years, but he did find some nice picks........( also found some real duds )
Guhlie has got some wow to him, and it's all just starting....


We all have given Timmins a rough time over the years, but he did find some nice picks........( also found some real duds )
Guhlie has got some wow to him, and it's all just starting....

He found several nice players but I attribute the failures to having a substandard development strategy

 

[OldCraig71]

I love Xhekaj, love his story, love his toughness and his skill but he isn't the biggest surprise for me as I felt he was good enough to be on last year's team. My choice is Kovacevic, he isn't flashy but is a solid hard-working player and a guy plucked from the waiver wire. He doesn't get much in the way of press or hype on this board but he has been solid. I don't know if he is in the long term plans of Hugo but he will most certainly get another NHL contract somewhere.

 

[Vachon23]

what I would like to know is would y’all like to have Harris as a 2LD or Xhekaj ?

Hutson

In a contending team, Xhekaj need to be on a 3rd pair for me

Guhle is our top dman

That’s better

 

[BaseballCoach]

In a contending team, Xhekaj need to be on a 3rd pair for me

For me, it is the other way around. If we have a contending team, and Xhekaj is on the 2nd pair, that would be absolutely amazing!

 

[calder candidate]

Guhle is the best and it surprising that he is so good so early but Xhekaj has to be the biggest surprise I didn’t even expected him to be able to make the team this let alone be so good skating and moving the puck on top of being a guy that no one want to mess with.

 

[calder candidate]

I love Xhekaj, love his story, love his toughness and his skill but he isn't the biggest surprise for me as I felt he was good enough to be on last year's team. My choice is Kovacevic, he isn't flashy but is a solid hard-working player and a guy plucked from the waiver wire. He doesn't get much in the way of press or hype on this board but he has been solid. I don't know if he is in the long term plans of Hugo but he will most certainly get another NHL contract somewhere.

To me Kovacevic is a hugh surprise I can’t believe this guy hit the waivers wire… He is only going to get better and he is sign for 2 more years already might play him self out of our price range but I perfectly fine with Kovacevic has #6 for 2 more years.

 

[Tyson]

To me Kovacevic is a hugh surprise I can’t believe this guy hit the waivers wire… He is only going to get better and he is sign for 2 more years already might play him shelf out of our price range but I perfectly fine with Kovacevic has #6 for 2 more years.

Rarely can you find a player on the waiver wire with 4 NHL games of experience that can step right in and play well.
A great find by Hughes for sure. All he needed was a chance.

 

[themilosh]

He's not very good. He won't be starting on a contending team. For a spare, I suppose he's fine.

big body, 6th/7th dman on a contender.

 

[BaseballCoach]

big body, 6th/7th dman on a contender.

A big body 6th D on a contender is Savard or Xhekaj, not Kovacevic.

To me Kovacevic is a hugh surprise I can’t believe this guy hit the waivers wire… He is only going to get better and he is sign for 2 more years already might play him self out of our price range but I perfectly fine with Kovacevic has #6 for 2 more years.

He is not even 6th on our team right now when everyone is healthy, never mind on a contender.

 

[calder candidate]

A big body 6th D on a contender is Savard or Xhekaj, not Kovacevic.


He is not even 6th on our team right now when everyone is healthy, never mind on a contender.

Are we contender in the next two years? Kovacevic has not played a full year in the NHL 6’4 RD at 25yo he is entering is prime years making 766k for 3 years.The difference between a contending team and non contending team are the top player than the supporting cast the 4th line and #6 Dman are interchangeable. Considering the cap situation of a lot of contender pretty sure some of them would be fine with Kovacevic as #6. Even if he is #7 in MTL he is a NHL caliber player, so to get him for free was still a surprise and he is good enough that he might make someone else expendable.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Are we contender in the next two years? Kovacevic has not played a full year in the NHL 6’4 RD at 25yo he is entering is prime years making 766k for 3 years.The difference between a contending team and non contending team are the top player than the supporting cast the 4th line and #6 Dman are interchangeable. Considering the cap situation of a lot of contender pretty sure some of them would be fine with Kovacevic as #6. Even if he is #7 in MTL he is a NHL caliber player, so to get him for free was still a surprise and he is good enough that he might make someone else expendable.

Happy to keep him for #7 with his contract.

 

[Galchenyuk15]

He's not very good. He won't be starting on a contending team. For a spare, I suppose he's fine.

I'm not a Kovacevic fan at all, he misses a second to execute what he think, but he still can play in the NHL on a small role maybe not a contending team but we are not at this level yet. Like him or not he will be there until the end of is contract, not necessarly in the lineup, but with the team. To have a 7 d-man like that, a RHD who don't hurt you when is playing with the salary he has, cap hit of 766,667 for two more years it's like a golden nugget for the cap managament in a hockey world where the average player make close to 3,7 millions (85 divide by 23)!

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Kovacevic is quite bad.......I am not sure why some people are pumping his tires. Low hockey IQ and handles the puck like a grenade in the D zone. It is very obvious why he was on waivers and I don't see a future for him in Montreal unless he significantly improves and he isn't that young. The guy is 25 and is barely holding on to a spot on the least experienced DCorps in the league........if he was left handed he wouldn't be here at all and would be in the AHL where he belongs.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I'm not a Kovacevic fan at all, he misses a second to execute what he think, but he still can play in the NHL on a small role maybe not a contending team but we are not at this level yet. Like him or not he will be there until the end of is contract, not necessarly in the lineup, but with the team.

Exactly.....he really struggles to read the play and coughs up the puck because he processes the game so slowly. It is really painful to watch for myself as he has squandered so many opportunities to make efficient plays but just doesn't seem to have the brains to pull it off.

 

[Galchenyuk15]

Exactly.....he really struggles to read the play and coughs up the puck because he processes the game so slowly. It is really painful to watch for myself as he has squandered so many opportunities to make efficient plays but just doesn't seem to have the brains to pull it off.

Something you born with or not and can't really work on that. I still think he will become more effective, not good but more effective, with time if he plays at first in understanding is limit and play with his weakness but he simply doesn't have the hands, the brain or the quality to proceed the game faster and become a efficient d-man with the pace of the game in the NHL!

He didn't deserve playing time over others prospects and I hope he would be a healty scratch for the next 2 years lol But is contract give you some flexibility and this is why he can become useful.

With a contract like that you can absorb 1 "bad" contract like Gallagher, Anderson or Armia at mid-term but in a better world this give you the $$$ to target the players you want if you manage your cap adequatly.
Example : Taylor Hall with Boston for 6 millions in a WIN mode!

We are not there yet but maybe someday a Kovacevic type of contract will give us the St Graal for the 25th times!

 

[Vachon23]

Kovacevic is quite bad.......I am not sure why some people are pumping his tires. Low hockey IQ and handles the puck like a grenade in the D zone. It is very obvious why he was on waivers and I don't see a future for him in Montreal unless he significantly improves and he isn't that young. The guy is 25 and is barely holding on to a spot on the least experienced DCorps in the league........if he was left handed he wouldn't be here at all and would be in the AHL where he belongs.

As #7, he’s perfect but he can’t be a regular

 

[Destopcorner]

Guhle is the best and it surprising that he is so good so early but Xhekaj has to be the biggest surprise I didn’t even expected him to be able to make the team this let alone be so good skating and moving the puck on top of being a guy that no one want to mess with.

In our zone, Guhle is by far our best D already and will only get better. His skating, positioning and awareness is truly magnificent for a 20yo. He's the one replacing Romanov in that regard. Imo that's where X is still raw, he needs to figure out how to close the blueline gap effectively and keep his man/focus down there. Same in the neutral zone, too many time a forward hid behind him for a breakaway pass.

But it's all part of the process and the kid learns fast. Remember he wasn't even playing full time D until his junior years...

What's most impressive is his tenure in the O-zone. Good at keeping pucks in, poised, best in the team to shake and bake/find lanes for his heavy wristler ( yes he tried the slapper only 4 5 times ... ) and he has really underrated vision. Just last game he made a sick Markov cross ice right on tape between 2 opposing sticks look so easy.

This year he's by far our best offensive D and needs to be on the ice whenever we need a goal instead of Edmunston, Kovac or Harris. And get him on the PP asap Marty!

 

[MilesNewton]

I think the biggest question mark for me is who will still be there in 3 years time? Obviously Kovacevic is the odd man out. But knowing you have Hutson, Mailloux, Barron and likely others on the way makes you wonder if we're gonna ice an all under-23 D soon enough. I mean, they can't all get ice time, and Matheson/Savard are signed long term.

It would make no sense for someone like Mailloux to spend 3 years in Laval when Xhekaj made it right away. At this point, Barron should be getting his chance in the NHL soon, too (which would make it 5 rookie dmen in Montreal)

Would HuGo pull a trade for maybe an upgrade on the top-6 fwd or for a key young goalkeeper by trading one of our D?

Guhle-Harris
Xhekaj-Mailloux
Hutson-Barron
Matheson-Savard
Kovacevic

Wonder if he might trade Barron at some point. I know everyone is high on him but curious if he will get a few games haven't followed the Rockets much not sure how he is doing?