Have We Seen the Last of Arber Xhekaj with the Canadiens? Key Announcement Could Signal the End
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj appears to be heading back to the press box next game, furthering tensions between him and head coach Martin St. Louis.
Xhekaj has been the subject of much scrutiny so far this season. Many Canadiens fans are not happy with the way the team is playing as a whole, and Xhekaj has been a big part of that. He has been the subject of some very strong and public criticism from head coach Martin St. Louis.
Through eight games this season he is yet to record a point and has a total rating of -6. That being said, it seemed like the youngster was making significant progress as St. Louis complemented his game on Saturday as he got a season-high 20:34 of ice time in a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues.
With all the positives though, it seems like Xhekaj might be back to square one with his head coach. After a brutal 8-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken yesterday, Xhekaj was practicing as an extra alongside Logan Mailloux this morning. Mailloux has since been sent back down to the AHL, and we can assume based on this that Xhekaj will be a healthy scratch again tomorrow when the team takes on the Washington Capitals.
Does this mean that Xhekaj has fallen out of favor with the team for good? All things considered, his performance last night was not so bad. In a game that ended 8-2, he was only a -1 and still had more than 17 minutes of ice time.
For reference, Kirby Dach had the worst rating on the team at -3. Given everything that has been going on with Xhekaj this season, this could be an indication that a trade is coming, or at the very least, we could see a trade request from a disgruntled Xhekaj, as he will likely be growing increasingly frustrated at being a healthy scratch, even if he's making improvements and working on everything St. Louis is asking him to.
Be sure to keep an eye open for the team as we will likely be getting more updates on this situation in the coming days. There's no doubt Xhekaj will have his eyes on the headlines too, as his days in Montreal could be coming to an end soon.
