It’s no secret that rare players like Arber Xhekaj attract the interest of general managers in the National Hockey League. However, we didn’t know exactly to what extent.
According to what David Pagnotta reported during an intervention on TSN 690, Kent Hughes would have refused a very good offer from another team for the services of Xhekaj during the last off-season.
“A team offered a late first-round pick in return for Xhekaj,” Pagnotta said Monday. The Canadians said: ‘No thanks, we like what we have on hand.’”
Teams’ interest in Xhekaj is not new. When the tough defenseman was briefly relegated to the American League last season, teams called the Canadiens like sharks that smell blood.
“Teams have continually called the Canadiens for two years,” Pagnotta said.
Since the start of the season, Xhekaj has struggled to find his place in Martin St-Louis’ squad. The latter sometimes preferred Jayden Struble, Justin Barron or Logan Mailloux.
No. 72, a crowd favorite, settled for one assist in 17 games in 2024-25. He especially distinguished himself by courageously throwing down the gloves against Mathieu Olivier last Saturday.
