With the Olympic Tournament and the break in the books, the trade freeze on the NHL has been lifted, and there should be plenty of talk and speculation about trades in the run-up to the March 6th trade deadline. The Montreal Canadiens only have three games left until then, and given the team’s results this season, nobody expects the Habs to be sellers; their rebuild his over.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that Kent Hugues will stay put, though. There has been a lot of chatter about forward Patrik Laine being on the market, and the Habs do have an interesting situation developing on the blueline. For the third season in a row, Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj have been fighting for the role of sixth defenseman, and neither of them has been able to hang on to the role. Furthermore, we’ve seen that Adam Engstrom is knocking on the NHL door (although he was injured this weekend in the Laval Rocket game), and David Reinbacher should be ready to move up soon as well.
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When these kids are ready, someone will have to make way, and whichever way you look at it, Xhekaj and Struble, who have been on the bubble, are two candidates to go. The latter is in the first year of a two-year contract with a $1,412,500 cap hit, while the former is playing in the last year of a two-year pact with a $1,300,000 cap hit. Neither is near UFA status. Xhekaj will get there in 2028, while Struble will be free as a bird in 2029. Since both will remain under team control, there is no rush to move either.
Kent Hughes has always said that he’s not in the business of buying high and selling low, which leads me to believe that, at least for now, Xhekaj is not going anywhere. The 6-foot-4 and 240-pound defenseman has a special blend of skills and toughness that most teams would love to have. While it’s true that he makes some mistakes on the ice, be it in defensive coverage or by getting himself out of the play to make a big hit, the Canadiens will need to decide whether they are ready to live with those mistakes to benefit from what he brings on the physicality side.
Martin St-Louis doesn’t seem particularly fond of the gritty style Xhekaj can bring, but there’s no denying that the Canadiens need to have some players who can play that kind of game. It was evident in the playoffs last season when the Washington Capitals roughed them up, and it likely won’t be different in the upcoming playoffs. Despite his occasional shortcomings, it would be a mistake for the Canadiens to move on from Xhekaj.
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Asked about his future last Wednesday after practice, Xhekaj said that there had been no talk about a contract extension and that he’d see what happens in the future. Even though he’s only averaging 11:20 of ice time this season, he still leads the Canadiens in hits with 135, miles ahead of the next defenseman, Struble, who only has 73, followed by Noah Dobson, who has 39. Up front, Joe Veleno leads the pack with 119 hits, and Zachary Bolduc is next with 115. As things stand, Montreal cannot afford to trade Xhekaj, at least on paper.
The question is, though, will St-Louis ever be comfortable enough with his downsides to give him a regular shift? It appears that Hughes and St-Louis will need to discuss that topic to decide how to move forward. Could playing him up front in an energy role be an option? It sure seems like an idea worth exploring; the younger Xhekaj, Florian, is doing very well in that role with the Laval Rocket.
Whether or not they decide to move on from the hulking defenseman, it would make sense for the team to sign him to a new contract before trading him. That’s the only way to maximize his value. He’s got a special blend of attributes, but other teams are more likely to give better compensation if an asset is already signed to a cost-efficient contract.
Something will have to give soon on the blueline, but it doesn’t have to be before the end of the season. This seems to be a matter Hughes should take his time with; he could use another playoff experience to see how much of an impact these two blueliners can have when the stakes are as high as they can be.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
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