Kent Hughes Has a Tough Call to Make on Arber Xhekaj
The interesting part of the Arber Xhekaj trade rumours isn’t that teams are calling. Every NHL team gets calls on players who have something the rest of the league wants. The interesting question is what Kent Hughes believes Xhekaj is worth to the Canadiens’ future. And that is where things get complicated.
It’s tough to find young physical blueliners with Xhekaj’s skill set.
In today’s NHL, players like Xhekaj are difficult to find. Big defencemen who can move the puck, play with an edge, and make opponents think twice about taking liberties with teammates have value. There are plenty of defencemen who can skate. There are plenty who can play physically. Finding someone who can potentially do both is much harder.
That is why other teams are calling. The mistake some rebuilding teams make is assuming every good player has to fit the same timeline. If a player is not part of the eventual Stanley Cup core, move him for assets. But sometimes those players become part of the identity of the team you are building. That might be where Montreal is with Xhekaj.
Related: Canadiens’ Brett Berard Signing Reveals a Bigger Plan in the Works.
The Canadiens are moving beyond simply collecting prospects for the future.
The Canadiens are not just collecting draft picks anymore. They are moving into the next phase of their rebuild, where young players need to learn what winning hockey looks like. Players like Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and now Ivan Demidov need teammates who help define the culture.
Xhekaj brings something different. He brings an element that cannot simply be acquired at the draft. You can draft skill. You can develop speed. You can find offensive talent. But finding a young defenceman who already has the confidence to stand up for teammates and play with an edge is much more difficult.
If the return is huge, any player could be traded.
Of course, Hughes has shown he will make the difficult decision if the return makes sense. Montreal’s rebuild has never been about keeping every player. It has been about making the right decisions at the right time. That is the key with Xhekaj.
If another team offers a young player, a significant draft asset, or a piece that accelerates Montreal’s rebuild, Hughes has to listen. That is his job. But moving Xhekaj simply because teams are interested would be a mistake.
Xhekaj is an identity player who gives his all every shift.
Xhekaj is a player who, like Brendan Gallagher, brings an emotional edge every shift. The best rebuilds are not built only by collecting talent. They are built by understanding which players give the team an identity. Xhekaj might not become Montreal’s best defenceman, but he could become one of the players who defines what the next version of the Canadiens looks like.
And those players are usually worth keeping.