The Montreal Canadiens have announced that they have re-signed defenseman Arber Xhekaj to a two-year, $2.6 million contract that will take him through the 2025-26 season. Xhekaj has spent the last two seasons with the Habs playing in 95 games at the NHL level, putting up eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points, along with 182 minutes in penalties. He spent 17 games with Laval last season, putting up three goals and eight assists for 11 points, along with 34 minutes in penalties. Prior to joining the Habs, the Hamilton, Ontario native spent four seasons in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers and Hamilton Bulldogs, where he put up 20 goals and 34 assists for 54 points in 161 games and won an OHL Championship in 2022 with the Rangers.
Xhekaj is coming off of a shoulder injury, which limited him to only 44 games at the NHL level last season. There’s a lot to like about the 23-year-old blueliner, as he has no issue throwing his body around and has shown that he has a little bit of pop offensively as well. There’s no doubt that the Canadians have a lot of young defensemen and that Xhekaj will have to come into training camp having to earn an everyday spot on the team. I would expect Xhekaj to be a third-pairing defenseman for Montreal heading into next season. Montreal also signed Arber’s younger brother, Florian Xhekaj, to an entry-level contract after they selected him in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL Draft.
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