On The Sick Podcast last night, Eric Engels made an interesting statement about Arber Xhekaj's potential.
Last night on The Sick Podcast, Tony Marinaro was hosting Eric Engels, and after discussing Pascal Vincent's nomination as the new Laval Rocket head coach, they discussed the state of the Montreal Canadiens' blueline.
The Sportsnet writer mentioned that for him, amongst the Canadiens' defensemen who are likely to be included in the "rotation" this season; Jordan Harris, Jayden Struble, Justin Baron and Arber Xhekaj, the latter is the one who has the most potential to become a top-four defenseman.
What Xhekaj Brings to the Game
While some only see Xhekaj as a big body who can police the ice for the Canadiens, I agree with Engels that he has a high potential. In the two season he has played so far, he has showed a very interesting mix of skills and abilities.
For instance, in his first season, he showed he had a knack to find shooting lanes to the net with wristers from far out which led to scoring chances thanks to the rebounds produced. He had me thinking that he didn't have a booming slapshot, but this past season, he showed he can unleash extremely punishing shots from the point. During the hardest shot competition in the team's ability contest, he ripped a 107.2 miles per hour bomb. It's almost as if he didn't dare to unleash it in his rookie season. If that's the case, I'm looking forward to seeing what will come for the sophomore encore.
He may not be the top puck moving defenseman on the team, but he has showed that he can evade opponents by stickhandling with a certain fluidity. Considering he's six-foot-four and weights 240 pounds, that's no small feat. Besides, someone else will be carrying the puck in the not so distant future.
After playing 17 games in the AHL with the Rocket, his decision making in his own zone visibly improved, which made him an even better defenseman and one that, for me, brings more tools to the table than say Harris or Struble, and even Barron if he doesn't live up to his former first-round pick potential.
About the Rotation
Unless Kent Hughes rolls up his sleeves to make some room on the blueline prior to the season start, the Canadiens will once again be heading for a rotation system for the back end. If that is the case, we won't see many rookies in the defense corps.
Speaking about Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher and Logan Mailloux, Engels explained that if they make the lineup, it will be to play, not to be stuck in a rotation. Those three players are in earlier stages of their development and since they do not have to clear waivers to go down, they shouldn't be made to sit out games.
Hutson's will be in his first strides of professional hockey, Mailloux has a season in the AHL under his belt, but he played so few games in junior that it won't hurt him to get some more mileage before making the team. As for Reinbacher, he was playing pro hockey in Switzerland, but he only has 11 games of North American hockey on his resume.
Opening Night Lineup
Marinaro even went as far as predicting his opening roster on the blueline. For the host, the first pairing would be Mike Matheson and Kaiden Guhle, the second one would be Lane Hutson with David Savard and the third one would see Xhekaj playing alongside Struble.
I agree with his first two pairings, Guhle has shown he can handle whatever is throw at him and he works well with Matheson. That's not to say the youngster is anointed first pairing forever and always though. Putting Hutson with the team's unofficial defensemen's big brother makes plenty of sense, he did ease in Struble in the NHL last season and Hutson in his debut as well.
As for the third pairing however, I would have Arber Xhekaj there, but I'd rather see Harris there instead of Struble. For the last couple of years, I believed the Northeastern graduate would be the odd man out and end up on the trade market. That might eventually be the case, but for now, I have him ahead of Struble (who is yet another Northeastern graduate). As for Justin Barron, he's yet to show he deserves a full-time spot on the blueline.
Obviously, it's still early, but as things stand, I see Barron and Struble as part of the rotation. If it wasn't for the fact Barron has to go through waivers though, I think I might have been inclined to put him down in the AHL. I feel sending Struble down wouldn't be fair, even though he doesn't have to clear waivers. With so much internal competition, it's essential to have some sort of meritocracy in place to keep the competition healthy.
