The Montreal Canadiens announced on Tuesday that defenseman Arber Xhekaj will undergo left shoulder surgery and miss the rest of the regular season. The surgery will take place on Wednesday, and he is expected to be ready for the beginning of the 2024-25 season.
The second-year defenseman was injured in an odd way during a 7-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
In the third period, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos collided with teammate Brandon Hagel. Tampa Bay forward Mikey Eyssimont believed that Xhekaj had something to do with the collision and went after him.
Xhekaj missed the Canadiens’ 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
This is the second time that an upper-body injury has kept Xhekaj out of the lineup this season, with the previous resulting in him being placed on injured reserve in November. In 44 games, the 23-year-old had three goals and seven assists. He was a plus-6 after finishing minus-9 last season and had 81 penalty minutes.
His rookie season also ended early when he suffered a right shoulder injury after playing 51 games. He recorded five goals and eight assists in 2022-23.
Montreal is now short two defensemen, with Kaiden Guhle being listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. On Saturday, the Habs called up defenseman Justin Barron from their American Hockey League affiliate, Laval Rocket, on an emergency recall.
The Canadiens are not in the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, currently sitting six points out of last place in the Eastern Conference with 70 points. Montreal welcomes the Philadelphia Flyers to Bell Centre on Tuesday after losing three straight and going 4-5-1 in their last 10 games.
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