[Priyanta Emrith] Martin St-Louis on what Arber Xhekaj needs to focus on while down in Laval: “just be a pro, just work. You guys are making a bigger deal out of this; he’s a young player, it’s part of his process to reach the highest ceiling he’s going to reach as a professional athlete.”
#Habs Martin St-Louis on what Arber Xhekaj needs to focus on while down in Laval: "just be a pro, just work. You guys are making a bigger deal out of this; he's a young player, it's part of his process to reach the highest ceiling he's going to reach as a professional athlete."
— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) December 5, 2023
by Go_Habs_Go31
18 Comments
> You guys are making a bigger deal out of this;
First time in Montreal, Marty?
MSL is aware habs fans are elite at being doomers
Damn Laraque was right
Hes 21, undrafted, 6’4”, fast, physical with an untapped offensive upside. And he can fuck up anyone, Hes gonna be fine
He’s a fan favorite who brings some much needed physicality to a squad that is often soft of course there will be some backlash you can’t just sweep this under the rug
Let him dominate the AHL for a bit. That is what the depth is good for. Allow him to feel more dominant again. He went from OHL level to NHL level in like 6 months. He deserves another crack at dominating.
If I’m being 100% frank, I think this may have to do with showing off our other defensive prospects in the NHL. In a season or two we’ll be having a defensive logjam, so this will give prospects an opportunity to show what their made of to increase their trade value before the TDL. This gives prospects the chance to not be buried in the AHL despite being NHL calibre.
Xhekaj isn’t leaving and HuGo would have to be moronic to trade him because he’s basically irreplaceable given his playing style and how injury prone the team is. We’re not making it to the playoffs this season, he’s coming off of an injury, and he gets the opportunity to round his game out. Him temporarily going to the minors isn’t something to sweat over. He’ll be back on the line-up by the next season opener.
Fans talks a lot about coaches or GMs falling in love with their players.
Yet fans do the same thing. That’s why people are reacting so strongly with Arber in Laval.
Reality is going to hit this sub in the face like a brick when Xhekaj doesn’t make it through the rebuild. Guhle and Hutson are 10000% taking two of the LD spots. He’s fighting for 1 spot against every other prospect, FA, trade, etc. And we still have Matheson.
He was taking way too many penalties. I have no issue with the fighting majors he got the first two games as they both were a result from dirty hits. The minor penalties need to stop.
It’s not a big deal. They’re not sending him back to Costco.
I would love for him to stay in Laval until after December 16th…PLEASE. lol. I wanna see him play in a small AHL barn!! Christmas wish is he is still in Laval on the 20th as well. Got tix to see Rocket in Hershey And Syracuse on those dates, so it means he’ll be in the NHL again before then…haha
People are making a big deal about it because the team made a big deal out of him. Networks were all over him as well, and arber got a lot of league coverage because of his story. I really think there’s more deserving players on this team to get a demotion than him.
X need to work on is defensive game and how to be physical without getting out of the play or taking useless penalty so it’s not really surprising considering that Struble also looks quite good so far and ahead of X in the D zone for sure
I am surprised by some of the negative comments about this guy. Take away roughing/fighting penalties and I wouldn’t think he has a worse penalty per game than others – but I haven’t looked it up. I also don’t think he has looked worse than Harris/Barron/Kovy/Lindstrom defensively.
The key to his value is that he can fight AND play. A pugilist who can take a regular shift is still a valued commodity that is not as easily replaced as some are suggesting.
Seems to be a great guy to keep as a bottom pairing D – but I guess we will see as other prospects enter the picture – battling for the same position.
Not really Xhekaj related, but I love how Marty deals with the media.He commands a ton of respect, and no matter the question, his answers are always well thought out and respectful. Montreal has been needing this for a long time.
Good for Martin St Louis.
I’m siding with Marty here, it’s been said many times in post game scrums that X needs to get his stuff together yet he simply kept on doing the same patterns.
His popularity went haywire since joining the team but you have to be disciplined. Fights and cross-checks are fun to watch but getting the instigator penalty (Thus shorthanding your 5 d partners for half a period) almost every time and getting meaningless, behind the play, penalties get under a coaches skin. X has to find the boundaries of his style of play and it has to be done in Laval especially after a few meetings with the coach.