Elliotte Friedman Suggests Arber Xhekaj Was Almost Traded For A Young Star Forward

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Tyler Ball
January 22, 2024 (10:57 PM)

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Since being sent to the AHL the future of Arber Xhekaj in Montreal with the Canadiens has been in doubt. Before he was recently re-called a report from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman suggests that Xhekaj was possibly almost on the move for another young star.

Friedman Suggets Xhekaj Was Almost Traded For A Young Star

During his most recent 32 Thoughts Podcast Elliotte Friedman talked about Arber Xhekaj. He mentioned that several teams have checked in on Xhekaj according to his sources. He believes one of those teams was the Philadelphia Flyers potentially in a Cutter Gauthier trade.

Friedman on teams calling about Arber Xhekaj (32TP): "I wouldn't be surprised if Philly was among those teams. I don't know if it was a deal with (Cutter) Gauthier or something else, but it makes a lot of sense. If Xhekaj doesn't want to be a Canadien, man, he's a Flyer."

While Friedman is not sure it was for Gauthier, Xhekaj is a very highly sought-after prospect by NHL prospects. He continues and says that Xhekaj would fit the mold of a player the Flyers are trying to build going forward. Despite the interest in Xhekaj Friedman isn't so sure he will be moved.

Xhekaj Not Going Anywhere Says Friedman

As he continues on Friedman talks more about the Montreal Canadiens side of things. He says that the Canadiens have reiterated multiple times they will not be trading away Xhekaj.

Friedman repeats, Habs have told teams they are not trading him.

To go along with this the Canadiens backed up their talk by re-calling Xhekaj from the AHL where he looked dominant and a lot more offensively comfortable.

As he gets reacclimated to the NHL it will be fascinating to see if Xhekaj can translate his offensive success in the AHL to success in the NHL with the Canadiens.

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