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Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj Was Targeted By A Canadian-Based Rival
Arber Xhekaj of the Montreal Canadiens. Getty
Following their successful 2025-26 season that saw them advance to the Eastern Conference Final, the Montreal Canadiens and general manager Kent Hughes re-signed both Ivan Demidov and Jakub Dobes to multi-year contracts.
The good news for the Canadiens is that they appear set up to be a force in the Atlantic Division for a long time with so many of their core pieces locked up for the foreseeable future under contract. However, one player that still is in need of a few deal before next season is hard-nosed defenseman Arber Xhekaj.
Currently, he’s a restricted free agent following the expiration of his most recent contract that carried a salary cap hit of $1.3 million.
Montreal Canadiens Defenseman Arber Xhekaj Is Drawing Interest From Other NHL Clubs
According to Herb Zurkowsky of The Montreal Gazette, the Calgary Flames showed interest in Xhekaj at last season’s NHL Trade Deadline.
“Another source revealed Calgary’s interest in Xhekaj last season at the trade deadline,” he wrote.
According to NHL Insider David Pagnotta, there isn’t much to report in terms of movement on a new deal between the Canadiens and Xhekaj.
“At the time we’re doing this right now, the update is status quo conversationally between the Habs and Xekaj,” he said . “They’re not the only one to want to have that sandpaper in the lineup, there are other teams that have expressed over the last few weeks interest in trading for Arber Xhekaj, but the Canadiens have valued him for some time and they haven’t pulled the trigger. A, they haven’t found a deal they want because B, they want to keep the player. You’ve gotta convince them to make it happen.”
Pagnotta then revealed that one of the clubs that showed interest in Xhekaj was the Philadelphia Flyers, a club that always welcomes grit and sandpaper in their lineup.
“The very quick update with respect to Xhekaj and the Canadiens, despite interest from other teams – I mean, Philadelphia is one, and they’ve had interest in him during the last couple of years and is still the case now – but nothing done on that front yet,” he said. “And contractually, status quo. They’ll go back and forth to try and bridge whatever gap there is; both sides being very quiet on that side.”
Arber Xhekaj Still Needs A Contract
Pagnotta’s words of there not being any rush to get a deal done for Xhekaj were recently confirmed by his agent Brian Bartlett, who noted that there is still plenty of time between now and the start of next season.
“We have a long time until the season starts,” Bartlett said. “We have to try and figure out where he fits into the structure of the team. Montreal has some decisions to make. We have some decisions to make. There’s no panic.”
“I think he’s a really good player,” he continued. “Good teams like good players. The communication has been positive with the management group. I don’t have any indication to think that things are going to go off the rail.”
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FollowingEastern Conference FinalMontreal CanadiensKent HughesIvan DemidovJakub DobesCanadiensAtlantic DivisionMontreal’s Arber Xhekaj Was Targeted By A CanadianBased RivalHEAVYArber Xhekaj
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