Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff

[OldCraig71]

Arber made it to the NHL despite being passed over in the draft several times. The odds that he could do that alone and not spend 3 or 4 years in the AHL waiting for a shot are pretty small. He is looking like the best young defenseman out of the group right now, which can change. I would like to see him with the pp1 group instead of Matheson, even for a few games to see how he looks. His contract ends this summer and how much will he get from Hughes? Any predictions?

 

[HuGo Sham]

It was cope.. He had like 7 shots on net lol

yeah he played well - aside from missing the hit that led to the goal - he made up for it a few minutes later by stopping that 2 on 1. He also neutralized Reaves who didn't do squat and ignored multiple Arber x-checks lol

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

I wonder where Xhekaj would be in a re-draft, if he would have been drafted.

 

[Sorinth]

Arber made it to the NHL despite being passed over in the draft several times. The odds that he could do that alone and not spend 3 or 4 years in the AHL waiting for a shot are pretty small. He is looking like the best young defenseman out of the group right now, which can change. I would like to see him with the pp1 group instead of Matheson, even for a few games to see how he looks. His contract ends this summer and how much will he get from Hughes? Any predictions?

My prediction for contract would be in the Dach/Newhook mold. A medium term contract that will keep him as an RFA when it ends and pays him based on his potential more than his accomplishments.

 

[JT3]

I would like to see him with the pp1 group instead of Matheson, even for a few games to see how he looks. His contract ends this summer and how much will he get from Hughes? Any predictions?

Agreed, while I like Matheson I could go on and on about how he's not a great fit on PP1.

His strengths on the PP are his skating and his shot (except his selection is poor and often shoots when there's a better play available). His skating isn't actually all that valuable either given they just use the Suzuki drop pass for entries anyways. Meanwhile his playmaking is just not that good, you won't see him thread a smart pass through a seam, and he doesn't use Slaf's side of the ice the way he should be. I don't like the way he defends on the PP either, he bobbles the puck a lot at the line, and I find he is always WAY too casual when defending counterattacks, probably part of the reason we've allowed so many SHG this season.

Arber's strength would definitely come from his shot, which is better and more powerful than Matheson's. His shot has so much power that he'll create a lot of havoc putting pucks to the net and generating rebounds. His skating and entries I think are actually pretty good too, while not Matheson level I'm seeing him do it a lot more recently and do it pretty well. It pretty much comes down to how well he can distribute the puck, and honestly I don't think he's any worse than Matheson is.

It's worth a shot trying him for sure, but I don't think it's gonna happen this season.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

He's looked better with the #4 guy audition than Kovacevic/Struble/Harris. I know a lot of young defenseman are coming in but I am amazed that a lot see Arber simply as a third pairing defenseman. He has enough skills to be in the top-4 for a long long time if he continues to develop properly.

He went from being undrafted and missing a whole season due to COVID 3 years ago, to now being a 23 year old showing he's a NHLer and not looking out of place on a 2nd pairing.

With how much he's improved in that short time frame, it is hard to put a ceiling on where he might end up with more experience given he keeps surpassing expectations.

 

[Habs13]

Agreed, while I like Matheson I could go on and on about how he's not a great fit on PP1.

His strengths on the PP are his skating and his shot (except his selection is poor and often shoots when there's a better play available). Except his skating isn't all that valuable given they just use the Suzuki drop pass for entries anyways. Meanwhile his playmaking is just not that good, you won't see him thread a smart pass through a seam, and he doesn't use Slaf's side of the ice the way he should be. I don't like the way he defends on the PP either, he bobbles the puck a lot at the line, and I find he is always WAY too casual when defending counterattacks, probably part of the reason we've allowed so many SHG this season.

Arber's strength would definitely come from his shot, which is better and more powerful than Matheson's. His shot has so much power that he'll create a lot of havoc putting pucks to the net and generating rebounds. His skating and entries I think are actually pretty good too, while not Matheson level I'm seeing him do it a lot more recently and do it pretty well. It pretty much comes down to how well he can distribute the puck, and honestly I don't think he's any worse than Matheson is.

It's worth a shot trying him for sure, but I don't think it's gonna happen this season.

Great post. I fully agree. I think Xhekaj is a decent passer though. We've seen him fire solid outlet passes a few times this season.

He's already feared around the league and if he starts ripping 107 mph shots on the powerplay, that will only increase. Nobody wants to block that kind of shot

He went from being undrafted and missing a whole season due to COVID 3 years ago, to now being a 23 year old showing he's a NHLer and not looking out of place on a 2nd pairing.

With how much he's improved in that short time frame, it is hard to put a ceiling on where he might end up with more experience given he keeps surpassing expectations.

And his brother is doing the same. Seems to be a bloodlines thing. We really don't know how far either of them can go!

 

[HuGo Sham]

Arber made it to the NHL despite being passed over in the draft several times. The odds that he could do that alone and not spend 3 or 4 years in the AHL waiting for a shot are pretty small. He is looking like the best young defenseman out of the group right now, which can change. I would like to see him with the pp1 group instead of Matheson, even for a few games to see how he looks. His contract ends this summer and how much will he get from Hughes? Any predictions?

agreed. and instead of a bridge i'd offer him like 8 years at 3 mill

i know it's not happening so i expect a Harris type bridge deal...

 

[HuGo Sham]

I wonder where Xhekaj would be in a re-draft, if he would have been drafted.

end of 1st round 100%

 

[26Mats]

end of 1st round 100%

And that was a very deep draft, 2019. Same year as Dach, Caufield, Newhook, etc...

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Leafs dont know what defensemen look like. Dont take what they say seriously. Arber's stint in the ahl smoothed him out for sure. he looks more polished and he plays with savard againt tough match ups and he is not out of place at all.

lol they really don’t. It’s too funny.

I’ll talk with some leaf fan friends over the last few years and invariably they say ‘we need goaltending’ and I have to stop myself screaming at them ‘YOU NEED D!!’
And it barely registers with them haha. It’s bizarre. Like they’ve been burning out good or at least promising goalies since f***ing Cujo.

I can’t even remember the last time they’ve had a really good defensive D man. I hope they never figure it out.

 

[Captain Mountain]

end of 1st round 100%

Probably. Pronman did a redraft before this season (that wasn't great and is already out of date), but for reference he had RHP at 37th.

Re-drafting the NHL class of 2019: Hughes still goes No. 1, Parssinen skyrockets

Corey Pronman re-ranks the top prospects from the NHL Draft class of 2019.

theathletic.com

I don't think there are 32 players from that draft I'd take before Xhekaj.

EDIT: I do however want to reiterate how bad the redraft was. For example he has Broberg 11th, Kaliyev 13th, Parssinen 14th and Sogaard 19th. And he had Kochetkov 53rd, Brink 56th and Alex Vlasic 66th.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

end of 1st round 100%

Top 15.

 

[badfish]

Top 15.

1st overall in our hearts.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Arber made it to the NHL despite being passed over in the draft several times. The odds that he could do that alone and not spend 3 or 4 years in the AHL waiting for a shot are pretty small. He is looking like the best young defenseman out of the group right now, which can change. I would like to see him with the pp1 group instead of Matheson, even for a few games to see how he looks. His contract ends this summer and how much will he get from Hughes? Any predictions?

3.44M/2y 1.72M aav

10M/4y 2.5M aav

 

[Cournoyer12]

Terry Harper

Equal! Loved Harper though, all-heart

 

[Goalfield22]

I wonder where Xhekaj would be in a re-draft, if he would have been drafted.

That's a really interesting question...

 

[overlords]

3.44M/2y 1.72M aav

10M/4y 2.5M aav

I think 4 years would be great term but wouldn't it take him straight to UFA given he's 23 already?

 

[Miller Time]

Based solely on the eye test, he appears to be playing a subtly different type of game now. He's doing more on his skates, looking to make plays and looks improved positionally.

It's as if he's unlocked the "time slow-down" perk; he's seeing things that little bit faster and processing the game at a higher speed.

He's starting to look like a player with more to give than third-pairing minutes, for sure.

Almost as if the organization assessed his development needs perfectly in sending him to the AHL for a few weeks... Not unlike the accurate assessment they made on keeping Slaf in Montreal to start this season.

Two different trajectories, same ultimate intention & early indications of successful outcomes...

The constant in the two situations is the high degree of player/org. communication, and trust... A core element that was painfully lacking in our previous org. leadership approach.

Future is bright

 

[Redux91]

3.44M/2y 1.72M aav

10M/4y 2.5M aav

Yeah this is what I'm talking about

We should be talking about what his next contract is going to look like

It's imo either 2 years, 4 years or 8 years

I like your 4yr 10 mill angle, but lucky for us, I don't think give 2.5 to Arber off the bat, maybe 2? 2.1 lol?
And the Harris 2 years x 1.4 (or 1.7 as you mentioned) model would be an ok approach too

The dream is something like 8 years x 3M, maaaaybe 3.5 since you're buying UFA years at that point

I'm very very curious what it's gonna look like as the Dach and Newhook deals look incredible for us thanks to Kent

And he's like the only guy we have to sign this summer too which is nice lol

 

[OldCraig71]

3.44M/2y 1.72M aav

10M/4y 2.5M aav

If his game keeps improving during the first deal there is no way he signs for the second contract amount.

 

[Supersonic]

Leafs radio said Wifi looked like he was "barely an NHLer" when the Habs played the leafs recently. I didn't watch the whole game. Was he that bad or is it just the leaf media coping? They were very negative towards Slaf all year until recently (and kinda avoid talking about him), so I would assume the latter. Also, pretty ironic that they trash talk our D with their core looking as it does lol.

A buddy of mine I play beer league with, who is a Laffs fan, just asked me when the Habs were going to trade Suzuki and Xhekaj because our window closed and that we are about to scorch earth our roster…I think their fan base in general needs to touch grass

 

[HuGo Sham]

A buddy of mine I play beer league with, who is a Laffs fan, just asked me when the Habs were going to trade Suzuki and Xhekaj because our window closed and that we are about to scorch earth our roster…I think their fan base in general needs to touch grass

yeah and not the grass one lights up

 

[shamrun]

Top 15.

I agree. I would not be surprised if teams start sending scouts to costco now.

 

[Goalfield22]

To be fair, any player that actually looks like a legit NHLer is likely to go first round in a redraft or close to it just due to the lack of players that actually make it in the first place.