Canadiens’ Forward ‘Days in Montreal Are Numbered’ with Trade Coming
Former NHL enforcer for the Montreal Canadiens and current analyst Georges Laraque has stirred speculation about the future of Habs defenseman Arber Xhekaj. Xhekaj, who missed Tuesday’s loss against the New York Rangers as a healthy scratch but had strong words for Jacob Troube, might soon depart Montreal.
That’s in Laraque’s eyes, who has spoken about the defenseman role and situation within the organization and believes that the young player’s days with the team could be coming to an end. Laraque, speaking on BPM Sports, sounded confident in his belief that Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes will trade Xhekaj sooner rather than later.
“There are teams interested in his services, and if they get him, he won’t be coming out of the lineup like he does in Montreal,” Laraque said. “Xhekaj knows this, and so does his agent “The Canadiens will eventually trade Arber Xhekaj.” At just 23 years old, Xhekaj has had a difficult start to the season, recording no points in five games and a -4 plus/minus rating. He has missed the last two games played by the Habs as a healthy scratch.
This situation will raise questions about his role within the Canadiens’ lineup, leading to takes such as Laraque’s regarding his fit with the team. While Xhekaj was expected to play a significant role this year, his lack of production and the fact that he’s been scratched for two consecutive games has him on the outside of Montreal looking in.
According to Eric Belanger, discussing the Canadiens defensive lineup on Tuesday on La Poche Bleue, Xhekaj was frustrated at practice ahead of the matchup against the Rangers knowing he’d miss it. “Today (Monday) during practice, we saw him, he was ”really pissed off,” Belanger said. “But why do you have to find yourself in the stands to show that kind of attitude? It was like, ‘Oh, I deserve to be in the lineup.'” The Canadiens are off the schedule until Saturday when they’ll play against the St. Louis Blues at the Bell Centre. Montreal has the second-worst Eastern Conference record at 2-4-1 through seven games.
